


Flip A Coin

by An_Error_has_occured



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: And also up to Versus Zoom in Flash, F/F, F/M, Lots of Metas, M/M, Probably best to watch up to World's Finest in Supergirl before reading, Slow Burn Romance, hopefully funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-06-10 04:17:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 149,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15283440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Error_has_occured/pseuds/An_Error_has_occured
Summary: Barry Allen and Kara Danvers felt a spark when the Flash accidentally crossed over to Earth-38, but Barry had to return to defeat Zoom, Supergirl has to focus on Non, and both had their own romantic interests elsewhere. But other forces are at play, and a rare opportunity might lead to something else for Supergirl, National City, and the multiverse itself.In which Barry is confused, Kara is confused, and things go terribly wrong.





	1. Welcome to the Flipside

_Day One_

Barry Allen took a deep breath as he arrived at the designated 'starting line' that Cisco had laid out for him: an old billboard advertising for Keystone City, sitting in the middle of an abandoned lot by the waterfront. It was a good spot to start. Low chance of being spotted, even lower chance of someone getting hurt if the test went wrong.

It was a perfect morning for a run. The clear blue sky and cool breeze would appeal to anyone looking to out for a jog. Barry had seen several of them on his way over, and it always struck him how different he was from them. They were in slow motion compared to him, almost standing still. That thought used to amuse him, but he couldn't help but think that that's how Zoom saw Barry.

Flash pushed that thought down. It wasn't the time for negativity…in fact if everything went well there would be cause for celebration.

"Okay, you guys, I'm here, you got my location?" Flash called out. His suit's inbuilt com-systems transmitted his question back to Star Labs, several dozen miles away. Normally there was no need for that test when he was in the city limits, but best not tempt fate at the moment.

" _You good? You don't need to, like, stretch or somethin'?"_ The voice of Cisco Ramon, STAR Lab's resident tech genius, came over the coms clear as they always did.

"No, I'm good, I'm good." Flash responded. Truthfully, he was a little nervous. He had tested his speed before, of course, but they hadn't ever experimented with the source of his powers like this before. It had the potential to go very wrong.

" _Let's take this tachyon enhancer for a test drive."_

"All right." Flash grinned at Cisco's enthusiasm and hooked the tachyon enhancer onto his suit. The four pronged device stuck to his chest, the circle in the center framing the stylized yellow lightning bolt that had become the symbol of the Flash.

The machine went to work immediately, lighting up with a brilliant blue glow that radiated off his suit, flooding him with energy. It was somewhat comparable to the time he had drunk ten Red Bulls in a row to study for midterms.

Flash couldn't help but grin at the feeling. "Oh yeah. I feel that." He called out, already feeling angsty to start running.

" _That is the tachyon device powering up the Speed Force in your cells like a quick-charge battery."_ Caitlin's voice came over the coms, sounding just as enthusiastic as Cisco did, which was saying something. _"How do you feel?"_

"Different." Oh, that did not cover it at _all_.

" _Let's see how long it takes for you to get back here. On my count."_ Cisco ordered. Flash turned towards Central City and crouched, eager to be off.

" _Three, two, one. Go!"_

Flash couldn't help but grin. The Speed Force roared to life inside him and he took off as fast as he dared, leaving a trail of lightning and a knocked over billboard in his wake.

" _Daaang. This thing got you cruisin'."_ Cisco muttered in admiration.

" _How fast does he normally go?"_ Iris asked in curiosity.

" _Not this fast."_

" _Not even close. Are his vitals okay?"_

" _Yeah… they're perfect."_ Caitlin exclaimed in disbelief.

" _Cool. It's like having a pit stop attached to your chest."_ Iris mused.

The voices settled as Flash darted around the city; the city blurring around him to the point Flash couldn't even make out shapes, just colors and sounds. Despite that, he had barely worked up a sweat, much less near comatose as such an effort would have left him the day before.

He could do it. He could go even faster than this. The Speed Force running through him begged him to.

"Guys, I can go faster." Flash panted, already picking up the pace. His feet didn't even feel like they were on the ground anymore, he felt almost like he was flying.

There wasn't even a moment of hesitation from the other end.

" _Do it."_

With that, Barry put everything he had into pushing his limit, putting even his previous tachyon-enhanced speed to shame. People didn't even get a chance to register he had been there until he was already a mile away.

He was so absorbed in the feeling of exhilaration that he didn't feel a sort of resistance, like trying to move in water, before he burst through it, breaking something fundamental. The resistance gave way, and a cacophony of familiar light and sound washed over him.

Before he had time to process it, the sights and sounds shut off, and Flash was back on the street. He slowed down a touch, wondering what the hell had just happened, when he heard a scream. Looking up he could barely make out something falling from the top of a building.

No, not something. Some _one._ Before he even consciously thought of it, Flash dashed towards the building with all the tachyon-enhanced speed he could muster.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara Danvers walked into Cat Grant's office at CatCo, obnoxiously expensive latte in hand as always, diligently waiting to give her boss her morning drink. As usual, Cat Grant walked out of her private elevator, but today she had a large pink box in her arms.

Kara followed her boss into her plush office, drink in hand, as the older blonde set the box down on her desk and opened it with a flourish, revealing a group of artisanal cupcakes.

"Aren't they exquisite?" Ms. Grant breathed. Kara nodded dutifully.

"Yes, they look very yummy." She wasn't lying either. Her enhanced senses included both smell and taste, and right now her mouth was watering just looking at them. She was somewhat tempted to grab one, but given how much those cupcakes cost, Ms. Grant was as likely to give her one as she was likely to give Kara a raise.

Ms. Grant turned to her with an unidentifiable gleam in her eyes. "I can see it in your eyes, Kerah, that you want one." She said knowingly. "But you're too scared. So instead, you gaze longingly from a safe distance, wishing that you had one all of your own."

This was…odd. Ms. Grant's tone was one that Kara recognized; the same one Alex took with her when Kara wasn't recognizing something obvious.

"Well, let me tell you, cupcakes like these don't last." Ms. Grant continued, walking behind her desk and taking a seat. "They get snatched up and devoured. And if you don't act fast, so will he."

Well, apparently Ms. Grant had less patience than Alex. Kara's cheeks flushed slightly as she quickly tried to deny what she had been implying, but Ms. Grant wasn't done.

"Kerah, if you haven't caught on by now, I am trying to make a parallel between this box of cupcakes and your nonexistent love life." She finished bluntly.

"I'm not that comfortable talking about this with you…" Kara said firmly, turning to exit.

Ms. Grant rolled her eyes and sighed.

"But if I did," Kara turned around, ", what am I supposed to do? James said he needs time to think." She spread her arms hopelessly. "But, what is that? Time for him to talk himself out of it?"

"If you want James you are going to have to make a power move. Make yourself unavailable, make him jealous." Ms. Grant stared at her for a moment, and then added, "If you must, read my 1998 guide to finding love entitled _The Lighthouse Technique_. Shine your light, and let him come to you. And before you know it, he'll be docked in your port."

Kara decided to ignore that hopefully unintended sexual metaphor and instead focus on the message at hand: that Ms. Grant wanted her to manipulate James.

"It's not my best work, but it did get me a spot on _Oprah."_ Cat Grant, as humble as ever, muttered.

"So the best way to go after James is…not go after him at all?" Kara questioned. It was the central plot to more than a few rom-coms but it seemed ethically dubious at best.

Ms. Grant plucked a cupcake from her box. "Mhm. Precisely. Try less. Shine more."

Maybe it wasn't the best idea taking relationship advice from someone whose longest lasting relationship ended in an explosive divorce…but it might get her one of those cupcakes. Kara reached for one, but Ms. Grant caught her wrist and pinned her with an icy glance.

"These are mine." She said firmly. Despite being near invincible, Kara quickly nodded and backed away quickly, trying to shake the odd conversation out of her head.

The next few hours of work flew by quickly and normally, as they normally did, up until a certain someone stepped out of the elevator. Siobhan Smythe was the closest thing that Kara had to an arch nemesis, even before she had…accidently gotten her fired from CatCo. And at the moment the pretty brunette looked out for blood.

Winn, CatCo's resident tech genius and formerly Siobhan's boyfriend, tried to detain her, but the girl pushed him into the wall with superhuman strength.

"Kerah, call security. I haven't seen eyes that crazy since I had fondue with Ramona Singer." Ms. Grant said dismissively, still tapping away at her phone.

Kara got up and walked over to Siobhan, blocking her from Ms. Grant's office. The girl had unknown powers for some unknown reason, but that wasn't going to stop Kara from protecting her boss, even as a civilian.

"Siobhan, I'm sorry, but you can't be here." Kara warned. Siobhan's eyes snapped onto her, and even though they weren't bloodshot, there was no mistaking the madness that danced around her pupils.

"You ruined my life, Kara Danvers." Siobhan growled. Then she opened her mouth and _screeched._ The sound alone would have brought Kara and everyone else around to their knees, but it was the wall of force that was truly concerning. Caught completely unprepared for the attack, it slammed into her with the force of a truck, propelling her out the window.

The world was still spinning from that sonic attack, and Kara's ears would not stop ringing. She vaguely recognized the fact that wind was rushing by, and the fact that she was _falling headfirst towards the ground,_ but her powers wouldn't come to her.

She didn't even have enough time to consider what to do before something suddenly slammed into her, and then a familiar feeling of weightlessness overtook her, almost similar to flying. But she was mostly sure that she didn't have an unfamiliar pair of arms cradling her when she was flying under her own power.

In the blink of an eye, the city was gone, and she pitched forward, suddenly on her feet again. She shook her head, still reeling but aware that there was someone right next to her, and that her torso felt really warm.

"You're on fire!" The man who had presumably rescued her shouted. He rushed forward to put out the fire with his hands but shrunk back when he seemed to realize that would require putting his hands all over her chest. Huh. Point to the mysterious man.

"Huh…nope…I'm…." He spluttered, backing up from her, concern still evident on what she could see of his face. Kara finally caught her breath and began patting out the fire herself, only annoyed that this was another pair of perfectly good clothes ruined. And she really needed them after her evil self had burnt all her clothes…

"You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire." The man noted.

"I didn't need you to save me." Kara replied shortly. To her indignation, the man chuckled in disbelief.

"You just fell from a skyscraper." He pointed up to illustrate his point. "So if I hadn't been there, you would have gone splat."

Kara took a moment to examine her would-be savior. He was fairly tall, and was built like a runner, lean but strong. It was quite a deviation from the more muscular men and aliens at the DEO. Of course, the most noticeable thing about him was the red leather suit he was clothed in. It covered all of his body, everything except his eyes and lower face, and had a lightning bolt emblem on the chest, almost similar to the House of El symbol on hers, which was surrounded by a bulky futuristic looking device.

But the examination of this strange new alien would have to wait for later. She had a more immediate problem to deal with. "I have to get back to the city." She said to herself.

"Okay…" He trailed off as she walked away and exploded off into the sky, shedding her civilian clothes behind her. It didn't occur to her until she was already far up in the sky that she had just revealed her identity to a strange man she knew nothing about.

"What the what…" she heard him mutter with her super-hearing. "That's a new one. I thought I was the impossible."

Then, as she turned her eyes towards National City, she heard the sound of crackling electricity. Looking down, she saw a red steak working its way across the landscape, rivalling herself in speed. It had to be the man in the red suit. But how was he able to keep up with her? Was he Kryptonian? No, if he was then he would be flying.

She had to investigate this. She flew to the ground to confront this red streak. The moment she touched down he appeared in front of her, his entire body vibrating with power, and his eyes scrutinized her with an odd intensity that might have made her blush if it was under different circumstances.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry Allen was very confused. It had seemed simple: save the person falling, put them on the ground, race back to STAR Labs. Only he had overshot by several dozen miles, and rushed in the country.

Except there was no country around Central City. So he had stopped and put the woman down, accidently almost getting a face full of pepper spray when he realized she was on fire, but the woman wasn't the least bit thankful. The blonde just muttered in a confusing way and then _flew up into the freaking sky_. After dropping all her clothes on him for some reason.

There was no meta that Barry knew could do that, other than Weather Wizard, and any family member of that guy was more likely to try and kill him than just fly away. So he took off after her, hoping to talk to her when she landed, which was sooner than he had expected.

The woman that floated down from the sky was…different from the one that he had rescued. The blonde had been pretty before, in a slightly mousy secretary way, but now…

The sun shined through a tumble of blonde hair and cool blue eyes gazed down at him as she touched down. Her skirt, knee-high boots and cape matched his own suit, but the blue shirt emblazoned with the stylized S on it wasn't one that he recognized. Of course, he couldn't focus much on the symbol at the moment, because he didn't feel the need to piss off a meta of unknown power and strength by staring at her chest.

More than that, she was…beautiful. Worryingly so. Barry wasn't exactly graceful when communicating with beautiful women, and right now he needed to get information and hopefully not look like an idiot.

Briefly tapping into the Speed Force, Barry took a few milliseconds to recompose himself before he stared down the girl, focusing more on the powers than on her appearance.

"How did you do that?" He questioned. She looked at him like he was an idiot- a look too often got from women.

"I'm Supergirl." From her tone, she clearly thought he should know who she was.

"You're who now?" Super _girl?_ She looked to be at least his own age, and he was…well maybe not a man according to his friends, but at least his superhero name was pretty cool, if he did say so himself.

The woman- Supergirl- looked just as confused as him. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and _why was he noticing that?_

"Sorry, I was just a little…" she put her hands up to her ears, cringing "Disoriented from the scream."

The Scream? Barry hadn't heard of that meta before.

"How did you save me?" The girl questioned him, ironically asking him essentially the same question she hadn't answered.

Did she not know who the Flash was? Was there someone else running around in a red suit at super speed?

"Well, I…" he started. "You fell out a window and I caught you and ran you all the way out here." He managed to get out, waving his hands around. "Which I did not mean to do but I've been working on my speed and…"

He looked around in confusion. He felt totally lost right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl felt totally lost right now. Who was this guy? How had he never heard of Supergirl? And what in the sweet name of Rao was he talking about?

"Guess I'm faster than I thought…" The man concluded, still looking around like he hadn't ever been out in the country before. Time to try again.

"Yes…but I…" Supergirl exhaled in exasperation, making sure to not actually freeze the mysterious man. "Who are you?"

Now he was looking at _her_ in disbelief. His face twitched into a grin a few times, like she had told him a joke he wasn't sure whether to laugh at or not.

"I'm the Flash." He grinned, looking at her in total confusion.

"The who now?" Supergirl liked to think her memory was fairly good, and she couldn't recall anyone ever mentioning a 'Flash'. Was he an alien? Was the machine on his chest giving him super speed somehow?

The Flash looked baffled. "The Fl…Wait, do you not know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"What about the Green Arrow?"

Wasn't that the vigilante who stole from the rich to give to the poor? Probably not what he meant anyway. Supergirl shook her head.

"Black Canary?"

Were canaries black? She had never seen one. Again, no.

"Firestorm? Adam? Zoom?"

Supergirl shrugged. "Sorry."

The Flash turned away and seemed to come to a realization. "Oh, boy." He muttered. "Not as sorry as I am."

Before she could ask if that was a threat, the Flash began to pull of his hood…cowl…thing. Supergirl idly realized that she had to tell Winn his theory that all superheroes were weirdly attractive was true. The Flash definitely was handsome…

The Flash looked at her solemnly and Supergirl suddenly realized she was staring.

"Hey, I'm Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive." The Flash- Barry- gave a halfhearted chuckle that quickly died. "Also think I'm on the wrong Earth. I'm gonna need your help."

Supergirl shook herself out of her stupor and took a moment to fully process what he was saying.

"We need to talk about this back at CatCo." She decided. The fly over would also give her time to think over what he was saying. "By the way, where are my clothes?"

Barry looked surprised. "Uh…your clothes?" Now that she could see his face she could see how embarrassed he was. "I left them behind…but when I run things tend to get knocked around and/or getting caught on fire, so I wouldn't count on getting them back."

Supergirl sighed. She had few other clothing options until she could get a chance to go shopping. Stupid dimension hopper…

"Fine, we'll have to stop by my apartment on the way back. Let's go." With that, Supergirl backed up and took off towards National City, the Flash following beneath her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The detour by Supergirl-Kara's-apartment was thankfully brief. Barry didn't really enjoy going to other people's houses as a general rule, especially when there was a pretty girl changing in the room next to him, even if it was at super speed. Luckily Barry had been able to obtain a change of clothes from Kara's neighbor, who was throwing out all her ex-husband's things.

When Supergirl had re-emerged as Kara Danvers, the two took off for CatCo and sequestered themselves in Kara's 'hidden office', where Barry immediately took over the computer to research this new dimension.

However, despite the fact that Kara had revealed her secret identity to him and even showed him where she lived, she still didn't seem to fully trust him. Or believe him, rather.

"So what do you mean by you're from another Earth, I mean, how many other Earths are there other than this one? You know, we're Earth. I don't understand…" She asked in confusion.

In his furious typing spree, Barry had somewhat ignored her in favor of results, and now was squinting in frustration at the computer. He'd feel guilty for his rudeness later, at the moment the more immediate problem needed to be addressed.

"You guys have Central City, but you don't have STAR Labs. No Cisco Ramon, no Harrison Wells, no Caitlin Snow. Nobody who's gonna be able to help me get back home." Barry concluded.

Kara turned to him, probably not understanding what he was saying and about to question him, when the door burst open and two men came in.

The two men couldn't look any more opposite. There was a tall bald black man who had biceps that would have made Tony Woodward jealous, and his companion was a shorter white guy who looked like he spent a lot of time at a computer. Both of their eyes lingered on Barry for a moment, assessing him, before settling on Kara.

"Hey, are you alright?" The short guy asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Kara dismissed. "What happened to Siobhan?"

"Oh, well, after she went all Mariah Carey on you, she just split." He replied sardonically. Of that, only one thing stuck out to Barry.

"Oh, so we both have Mariah Carey." He commented to Kara. "That's…something."

"Who're you?" The tall black guy asked.

"Hey, sorry, I'm Barry Allen." Barry stepped forward to shake the guy's hand, which he accepted, but the man maintained a skeptical expression.

"James Olson." He said back.

"And this is Winn." Kara pointed to the other guy, who also looked distrusting.

"Uh, you guys..." Kara chuckled awkwardly and clasped her hands together. "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this. Well, I do know who to tell you, I just…"

Maybe she was this world's version of Felicity Smoak? Barry amused himself with that thought for a moment, but noticed that both James and Winn didn't seem amused.

"Uh, Barry…is from another universe." Kara concluded, putting up her arms like Barry was on display. There was a very palpable awkwardness in the air, and Barry was trying to come up with an explanation to convince them-

"Cool!" Winn exclaimed. The man's entire previous hesitance washed away. "Whoa! So the, the theory of the multiverse, that's true?" He directed the question at Barry, looking almost hungry.

"Oh, yeah. Big time." Barry replied.

"I still can't believe it, and I'm from another planet." Kara said.

Barry's head swiveled over towards her. "What?" Was that common here? Were aliens here like metahumans on his Earth? And what're the odds an alien race would evolve to look exactly like humans?

"Oh yeah. She's an alien." Winn confirmed, pointing at Kara in case the _who_ of the problem was the part he was having trouble grasping.

"You're an alien?" Barry asked Kara directly.

"Yeah." Kara grinned.

"So, do you have, like, other aliens on this Earth?"

"What do you mean by 'this Earth'?" James cut in.

"Ah…" Barry's brain stalled for a moment. "Hold on."

Barry ran over to a nearby whiteboard that was conveniently present and began to draw circles, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Winn and Kara both looked excited whereas James looked….annoyed? Ah, but the show must go on.

"All right, so, imagine there are multiple versions of Earth. Um, one where Nazis won World War II, one where Kennedy was never assassinated…"

Winn raised a hand. "Oh, yeah. One where all of us are evil?"

Barry grimaced. "Been there. It sucks."

Turning back to the whiteboard, Barry continued. "So all of these Earths occupy the same place in space, but they vibrate at a different frequency so they can't see one another."

Winn popped up next to him next to the white board. "Yeah, but if you can go fast enough, then it's possible to open, like, a breach and then travel between worlds."

That was quite a coincidental word choice. Barry nodded. "Yeah."

"But how could you travel that fast?" James questioned skeptically.

Barry set down his marker and grinned. Time for a little showing off. In the blink of an eye, he was off. Before any of them had time to register his absence (except maybe Kara), he was back, and they each had an ice cream in their hand.

"Yes!" Kara yelled, grinning at him like Christmas had come early. The sudden Speed Force usage must have messed with his head, because for a moment Barry's brain would _not start._

"Uh, so, I was struck by lightning the same night a particle accelerator exploded, and I became a superhero." Barry explained as succinctly as he could with the limited brain power he had, which took a further dive when Kara smiled at him again, taking a lick of her ice cream.

"So you're a superhero, too?" James stammered, still not looking completely put at ease.

"Yup." Barry confirmed.

James shifted uncomfortably. "That's cool, I guess." He turned away from Barry and sulkily ate his ice cream, causing Barry to squint at him, looking between him and Kara. Were they…?

Winn raised his hand. "So you can just like, bop back and forth between universes?"

Barry winced. "Uh, no actually. This happened by accident. I have traveled through time before by accident-""-That's cool-"Winn cut in. "-but I've never jumped parallel dimensions without meaning to. So until I can figure this out, I'm stuck here."

"Well, don't worry. Don't worry at all because we're gonna help you." Kara patted Barry on the shoulder, making him wince at her unintentionally painful grip.

Kara saw the look on his face and released him. "I'm sorry."

"Um, it's okay." Barry muttered. Apparently whatever was affecting his head was affecting his other organs too, because suddenly he felt butterflies in his stomach. That reminded him…

"First things first: food. I have to consume about 10,000 calories a day." He winced in embarrassment. If he didn't have powers that sort of diet would be embarrassing. It still sort of was.

"Oh, yeah. You've definitely met the right girl." Winn said, pointing to Kara. The phrasing was slightly awkward, and Barry's eyebrows shot up. James shot Winn a betrayed look that Barry barely caught.

Kara bit her lip and grinned, looking over at Barry mischievously. "Do you like donuts?" she asked.

Barry smirked at the woman in return. "Who doesn't like donuts?"

Kara nodded enthusiastically, her smile only growing. "I know a place."

"Alright." Barry pointed to the door. Kara took the lead and exited. "Yeah. See you." Barry shot a grin over his shoulder as he picked up his coat and followed Kara out of the office.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara led Barry through the upper floor of CatCo with a grin on her face, as if she hadn't just been shoved out of a window here just an hour ago. "Just one more thing I've got to get and then we can…"

"Kerah, you're alive." Ms. Grant's voice cut through Kara's promise with her normal sharp tone.

"Ms. Grant! Don't worry, I was rescued…"

"Stop stating the obvious. You're in the middle of breaking news and I want you to act like it. And yes," Ms. Grant heaved a sigh, "yes, another one of my ex-employees went all revenge-y. But…" She swiveled her computer around to show her a familiar image of Catco. But this time there was a red blur racing up to meet a smaller dot. It was a clear, clean shot of the Flash saving her.

"There's a new superhero in National City." Kara and Barry exchanged looks as James and Winn rushed in. "This is huge. Direct competition for Supergirl." Ms. Grant continued.

That was not good. Kara didn't know how long Barry would be around, but if he was here for a long time then it would be best if he weren't pitted against her- or rather Supergirl- in the media. "He doesn't have to be competition." She protested.

"Would you prefer a sidekick?"

"No, not a sidekick." Barry cut in. Kara shot him a warning look, but he didn't heed it. "More like an equal." He said, giving a teasing glance to Kara. "Or an ally. Even a partner, maybe."

Ms. Grant stared Barry down with a withering gaze.

Barry cleared his throat. "Speaking was the wrong choice, I see that now."

Ms. Grant stared him down for a moment, and then moved her gaze over all four of them. "All four of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show." She mused aloud.

"Who are you?" And her focus was once again on Barry, and her voice carried a not-so-subtle hint that if he didn't have a good excuse that he would be thrown out of the room by force.

"Um, he's my cousin." Kara offered quickly, at the same time that James and Winn chorused that Barry was their cousin.

Before the awkwardness had a chance to set in, Barry cut in. "No. My name's Barry Allen. I'm not actually anybody's cousin. Uh, we're just good friends."

"Yeah," Kara jumped in, "It feels like we're family sometimes."

Ms. Grant made no show to pretend that she believed them as all four chuckled nervously. "Well, I need a clear picture of this speedster. James, that's on you. And Kerah, there are a lot of people who want to know what happened. Speak to no one, you're mine. I will let you know when you should reveal this exclusive information."

Once again Ms. Grant sighed. "Now, I have to name this hero. I was thinking 'the Whoosh' or 'the Red Streak or 'the Blur'…" Ms. Grant's eyes went blank as they normally did when she was thinking as the four of them exchanged glances at the names.

"…The Blur." Ms. Grant said with the tone of someone who had just come to a decision.

"What about the Flash?" Barry spoke up again, a smile working its way onto his face. Kara felt dizzy for a moment, likely an aftereffect of the sonic attack. She would have to get one of the DEO doctors to check her later.

"I'm just saying," Barry continued, "I think that's a pretty cool superhero name. Right?"

"The Flash?" Ms. Grant said disapprovingly. "Sounds like someone whose only superpower is jumping out of an alley in a trench coat." Despite herself, Kara snorted, and Barry shot her a betrayed look.

"No," Ms. Grant concluded, "I want mystery; I want intrigue, so I want the Blur. Boys, be gone. Girl, stay." She ordered. James, Winn and Barry all shambled out of the office, shooting concerned looks over their shoulders.

Kara adjusted her glasses nervously and approached Ms. Grant's desk, not sure why she wanted her to stay.

"It's very clear that James is not happy seeing you with another man." Ms. Grant said with a hint of begrudging admiration in her voice.

A bubble of laugher filled Kara's throat. "What? No, I am not with another…" she trailed off as she realized that no one else was in earshot. "Really?" she asked nervously.

"Lighthouse. Keep it up. Though you might have wanted to choose someone a tad more…attractive than Mr. Allen." Ms. Grant said.

"Uh, well, I don't think that's quite fair, I think Barry is fairly attractive, maybe he's not James, but…well, I mean, okay there are different kinds of attractiveness, and Barry is pretty high up there..." Kara likely would have continued rambling had she not realized _what on Rao she was saying_ to her _boss_ of all people.

Ms. Grant raised a single eyebrow, her expression blank. Carefully blank. _Studiously_ blank. "Good luck, Kerah." Ms. Grant returned to her work, a clear dismissal.

Kara took a few steps towards the door, hesitated, and then continued out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry was having an odd dream, which was an odd realization to come to, because even though he realized it, he didn't wake up, nor did he gain control as one is supposed to when they are lucid dreaming.

He stood in someplace he didn't recognize, but that might be because it was constantly changing. Every inch of space was made of something one moment and something completely different the next. It was chaos incarnate, and he was caught in the middle of it.

Despite all that, he wasn't afraid. He felt safe here. This was a place where anything good could and would happen…if he wanted it to. He had felt this place before. When the only limit to where and when he could go was dependent on his own speed.

" _..arr…om...l..er…ind..s."_

Barry turned his head to the side, trying to listen to the voice.

" _. ...closer... ."_

He was so close, but he couldn't hear it yet. Barry raced towards the sound, but he couldn't hear it any clearer. Who was it, what were they trying to say?

"I need your help." Barry jolted awake when he heard Kara burst in the door.

"Anything you need." James was right at her side immediately, with Winn ready to help as well.

Kara looked distressed. "I was…actually talking to Barry." She gave James a look of apology, and then turned her gaze to Barry, who found himself on his feet.

"Yeah. Yeah, what can I do?"

"Well, I have this villain. Her name is Livewire, and she's basically like living electricity."

That was familiar territory for him. "That's cool. We have a rogue like that. We call him Blackout." Barry grinned at the memory, but saw that no one else was amused, and his smile fell. "Doesn't feel relevant all of a sudden." He muttered.

"Right. So she just broke out of this prison and…"

James sat down on the sofa with a long-suffering sigh. Barry internally winced, realizing that his presence was likely not helping the man with…whatever it was he had with Kara. Which Barry did not want to interfere with. At all. Because he had just met both of them, and had no reason to do so.

"Anyway, all she wants out of life is to kill Ms. Grant, and with Siobhan still out there, I don't think that I can protect her by myself." Kara hesitated and flashed Barry a nervous smile. "National City needs the Flash."

Barry wanted to accept immediately, but held back. He really needed to get back to Central City as soon as possible, ever second he wasted here was a moment Zoom might attack his friends back at STAR Labs. He didn't have time to deal with other world's villains.

But how to tell that to Kara's pleading face?

"Kara, I…" he started.

"And once they're both back in custody, I promise that we will do everything in our power to get you back home. What do you say?" She leaned forward in anticipation and stuck out her hand. "Partners?"

That was a pretty good deal. Barry smiled back at her and shook her hand. "Partners."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the space of a few seconds, Flash had scouted out the entire area of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. It was like Oliver's cave had been extended to the space of a few square miles. Every inch of the facility held revolutionary technology that would have made Cisco blush in envy. A few laps later to burn the layout into his mind, he reappeared in front of Supergirl and Winn.

"Okay, this place is amazing, all right?" Flash said enthusiastically, making Supergirl and Winn laugh. Then something even more interesting caught his eye. "Is that a spaceship?"

"That's actually my spaceship." Supergirl said proudly.

"I love this Earth." Flash decided. This was the fulfillment of so many of his old nerd fantasies. "Hey, Winn, can I get a picture with this bad boy?"

"Oh, yeah sure." Winn exclaimed, pulling out his phone quickly, only to wither when Supergirl gave him a look. "Uh…that's probably not a good idea, dude." Winn rescinded nervously.

"Agreed."

Flash glanced up at the new voice. It was a pretty woman with dark hair, dressed in dark soldier's garb, who carried herself with all the bearing of a military general. She also had a battalion of armed men pointing their weapons at Flash. "Who is this masked man? Alien?"

Supergirl crossed her arms and stepped in front of Flash protectively. "Metahuman." She declared. The other woman clearly did not know what that meant, but pushed forward regardless.

"Well, we have protocol for visitors at the DEO, Supergirl." The woman said crossly.

"Guy, it's fine, he's here to help us find Livewire." Supergirl defended.

There was a pause, and then the woman waved the men off, making them lower their weapons. "We do need all the help we can get." She admitted. "So what do I call you? Speedy?"

Well, he wasn't going to be in this dimension that long hopefully…Barry pulled down his cowl and stepped forward. "Barry Allen." He introduced.

"Lucy Lane. I hope you're bringing more to the table than just quick reflexes."

Oh, that was a challenge if he'd ever heard one. Barry smirked back at Lucy. "As it just so happens, catching criminals is both my night and day job. I'm a CSI. If you have a crime lab here, I'm sure I can be of assistance."

"Yeah, my sister's lab's right over there." Supergirl offered, pointing to the mentioned space.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Barry asked, following the blonde woman. "Where is she at?" The question was clearly not a good one, as Supergirl's face fell.

"I wish I knew."

Sensing that it was time for a change of topic, Barry decided to ask something that had been bothering him all day. "So, you can fly, and you're fast, but what else can you do?" He may be a scientist, but he couldn't really think of a scientific explanation for her.

Supergirl lost her worried look for a moment as her brow crinkled in thought. "Well, my physical strength matches my speed for the most part, and I also can use heat vision and freeze breath. Oh, and I'm pretty much invulnerable."

Had Barry been drinking something at the moment he would have spit it out. Had she been a metahuman Barry would have been tempted to say she was almost unfairly powerful, but maybe that was the average on this Earth. One thing did stick out to him though…

"If you're invulnerable, how did you get your ears pierced? Did you have to see an alien piercing place?" Kara's hand went to her ears in surprise.

"Well, technically yes. I got them back on Krypton, before it…before I came here." Supergirl switched what she was going to say in the middle of her sentence, but Barry didn't push. They were still essentially strangers, and it wasn't his place.

Maybe it was time to change topics again…but then Barry caught sight of the high-tech computer that Supergirl was ushering him towards, and all thoughts that weren't playing with this universes' toys fled from his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl knew she was smart. Going from Krypton to Earth was essentially like going to live in the Stone Age, so she hadn't gotten very invested in Earth's science. It was like seeing people bang rocks together.

But if you heard Barry talk about it, it was one of the most exciting and mystifying things there was. She didn't understand half of the words that he said, but apparently the DEO's computers were more advanced than those that he had worked with. Winn seemed just as excited, only more on the subject of having someone being just as enthusiastic about technology as him.

Within the span of an hour, Barry had set up an algorithm to find Livewire, the intricacies of which she didn't understand, just in time for James to show up. Her heart beat slightly faster as she grinned over at the man, who seemed slightly off.

"We found Livewire!" she announced.

"That's great news!" James smiled back, his face relaxing.

"Actually it was Barry." Winn admitted.

"Of course it was…" James mumbled. Kara shot him a look, but he didn't notice.

"Livewire's ability to absorb the electrical energy in the air surrounding her gave me an idea. So I wrote an algorithm to monitor variations in meter usage around the city, and it all leads to that warehouse. I see bad guys love their abandoned warehouses on your Earth too, huh?" Barry explained/babbled.

"I'll authorize a drop team." Lucy decided.

"No." Supergirl interrupted. "She's too dangerous. Let's go." She wasn't going to let anyone without powers risk their life for someone who wanted to kill her.

Barry shot up beside her, ready for action. "All right, what's the plan?"

"Catch the bad girl; bring her back here so she can't hurt anyone. 85% chance of punching." Supergirl listed. There was no time to waste coming up with a detailed plan of action. She had to get there before Livewire got out and hurt anyone.

Barry looked at her with a frown. "Okay…" He said. "That I get. But like, what's the plan? Maybe we can overload her somehow." He posed, turning to Lucy for support, and Supergirl felt a surge of irritation.

"Yeah, what about the Industrial Capacitator you were gonna trap her in last time?" Winn supported.

"No, it went busto." Supergirl shot down.

"Well, the Dynamic Duo will build you a new one." Winn and Barry high-fived while grinning like idiots.

"No." Supergirl said firmly. "If we wait, we lose her. If we lose her, God knows what kind of damage she could do, or who she could hurt. I defeated her once before. I can do it again. With your help." She turned to Barry, hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

Barry seemed slightly off put, but nodded. "I'm right behind you."

Both Supergirl and Barry took off through the DEO towards the warehouse, Supergirl barely catching Winn say "Have I told you how much I like that guy?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flash raced underneath Supergirl through the countryside towards the warehouse. He had taken the time to memorize the layout of National City so that he wouldn't have to ask directions and could focus on his speed, though he was much slower now that he didn't have the tachyon device attached to him. It was too vital to him returning to his Earth to risk it in a fight.

By the time Supergirl had landed, Flash had circled the perimeter and met up with her.

"For the record, I got here first." Supergirl remarked, a playful grin on her face.

"Yeah, for the record, I went around the block to check the perimeter. So technically, I let you get here first." Flash shot back. Supergirl chuckled and rolled her eyes at him.

Barry let his grin die as he looked around the warehouse. It was dark and dank, with small pockets of light creeping out from the walls. "You sure this is the right place?" he asked.

"Hope so."

As if on cue, the sole working light lit up in a fireworks display of cackling electricity, solidifying to turn into a white haired woman with dark leather clothing. Her vacant expression was a sign of madness that Flash was sadly well acquainted with.

"Long time, cape and skirt." Livewire said tauntingly. "Didn't think you could take me solo so you brought a date? How sweet."

Flash waved Supergirl away. "I got this." He said confidently. Flash disappeared in a blur of lightning, circling Livewire at his top speed, confusing the supervillainess and superheroine alike. If he could shoot Livewire up with enough lightning hopefully it would overload her like it had overloaded Blackout.

In an instant, Flash was back beside Supergirl, and he shot all the lightning he could muster at the deranged white-haired woman. It slammed into her, a look of shock (no pun intended) appearing on her face. Flash grinned as she shuddered, but then the lightning twisted, turning blue and sinking into her skin as Livewire straightened and cackled.

"Thanks for the charge." Livewire's smile twisted into a snarl as she built up a charge and slammed it into him, briefly suspending him in the air and sucking the Speed Force out of him. Barry couldn't let her steal his powers like Blackout did; if he did then Supergirl would be alone with a crazed maniac.

Flash tapped into the Speed Force for a brief moment, sending a shudder of energy along their connection, and immediately cut it off. Livewire flinched back, breaking the connection and sending Flash plummeting to the ground, briefly stunned.

Flash flinched as a high pitched screeching that suddenly pierced the air.

"I brought a friend too." Livewire announced. "Meet Silver Banshee."

Flash pushed himself to his feet. Supergirl needed his help, now more than ever. She may be invulnerable, but two-on-one was not good in any situation.

Barry caught a glimpse of this Silver Banshee. She was a human covered in skull-like black and white makeup, clothed in a tight black suit. Like her companion, she did not look completely stable, but didn't appear as manic.

"All my life I thought I was cursed." Silver Banshee said bitterly. "But now I see I was cursed for the better."

"You don't have to do this." Supergirl warned. "I want to help you."

"Funny, she said the same thing to me once." Livewire sneered. "Here's what I say to that." Silver Banshee opened her mouth and _screeched._ Flash heard Supergirl slam into the wall and struggled to stand up despite his spinning head.

"Once you two are dead I can finally give that little blonde moppet, Kara Danvers, the death she deserves." Silver Banshee announced. Great, so the two supervillains hated both sides of Supergirl, they just didn't know it. Flash pushed himself up, ready to fight.

"Maybe Kara Danvers is tougher than you give her credit for." Supergirl growled. She then took a deep breath and blew, a torrent of ice and hale emerging from her mouth, encasing Silver Banshee. Flash immediately began moving his arms in circles, sending a whirlwind of air to complement Supergirl's freeze breath, knocking Livewire to the ground as well.

Even so, they didn't have a plan. Silver Banshee was an unknown, and they didn't know how to trap Livewire. "We're not going to win this today!" He called to Supergirl. His partner nodded and quit her freeze breath.

Supergirl took off into the sky and Flash took off from the warehouse. They needed to re-group and re-plan. But Supergirl was flying not towards the DEO, but towards CatCo.

Barry quickly changed into his civilian clothes, storing away his Flash suit for later, and slowly made his way up to the top floor, where he hoped Kara would be waiting.

On the way up, shoved to the back of the elevator, Barry considered his actions in the fight. He was off his game, and he didn't know why. Kara knew more about Livewire than he did, yet he had given her a power boost, showing off one of his strongest abilities in the process. Why did he do that?

A creeping suspicion filled the back of his mind, and he immediately railed against what it was whispering to him. That what he did seemed a lot like showing off. More specifically, it seemed a lot like he was doing it to impress someone.

Barry shook his head as he walked out of the elevator and spotted Kara out on the balcony. It was too soon after Patty, and he was still too confused about Iris, and Kara had her own issues with James. He couldn't get too mixed up in this.

He couldn't. But Barry wasn't sure if it was for his sake, or hers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara gazed out at National City from her favorite balcony, her sensitive ears picking up footsteps approaching. It was too light for James, and too solid for Winn. Barry. She turned and saw him approach her, dressed in his casual civilian clothes. It didn't look quite as good as his costume did…

"Hey. How are you doing?" Barry asked in concern. Kara turned away from him, blushing slightly, and focused on the question. How _was_ she doing?

"Well, aside from my eardrums ringing like church bells, I'm okay." Kara said. Barry shot her a disbelieving look.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You don't seem okay."

Kara looked at Barry's earnest face and broke down. "I'm sorry I made you rush in against Livewire without a plan." She apologized. "I didn't know she was gonna have a cohort."

Barry turned and looked down at the city with her. "That's the thing about being a superhero. You have to somehow be prepared for the unexpected." Kara threw him a glance. Underneath a thick layer of pure nerd, there was a sense of raw pain that hadn't quite healed over. She could sympathize with that.

"Something happened to me a few weeks ago." Kara confessed. "I was exposed to this substance that made me crazy and I did a lot of horrible things."

Sympathy flashed across Barry's face. "That's rough."

"And when I was helping people as Supergirl, I was…I was so happy. And now that the people don't want me to help them, I feel lost. And I'm in such a hurry to prove myself again, I'm making stupid mistakes. Like today."

"This is gonna sound ironic coming from me, but you need to slow down. Just keep doing your good work. Don't worry about the rest. The public will forgive you, I promise."

Kara almost scoffed. How often was it that one of the most powerful people on the planet was corrupted, lost the trust of the public, and then gained it again? "How can you be so sure?"

Barry smiled at her. "Because the same thing happened to me. I got whammied by a meta from my Earth, and all of the negativity in me just rose to the surface."

"Whammied?" Kara asked, curious about the unfamiliar term. It sounded slightly too whimsical to be nefarious.

"Yup." Barry nodded. "They even ended up giving me the key to the city." What he was saying sounded almost sounded too good to be true.

"So what finally fixed things?" Kara asked hungrily. Barry tilted his head and thought for a moment. Finally he shrugged.

"Time." He said sagely. That was not the answer that Kara wanted. It was too cliché, and besides, it had been several weeks already. Barry could apparently see the frustration in her face, because he continued.

"When you're used to fixing things with…" Barry took a moment to consider his words. "…brute strength, or in my case, amazing speed, it's hard to accept that there are things out of our control."

There was a moment of silence.

"It's humbling, right?" He asked. Kara nodded, staring off into the distance. "And believe me, when you stop trying to force the solution, it'll happen on its own." Kara shifted uncomfortably as it occurred to her it was the opposite advice that Ms. Grant had given her, though on a different matter.

"I'm really sorry you're locked out of your world, but…I'm still glad you're here." Kara admitted, looking over at the speedster and patting him on the shoulder. Barry smiled back at her, and for a moment Kara felt an odd swooshing in her stomach that filled her with dread.

"M-me too." She got out, smiling back at him.

They enjoyed a few moments more of comfortable silence before Barry broke it reluctantly. "We should probably head back to the DEO if we want to prepare against Livewire and Silver Banshee." He said.

Kara nodded and moved away from Barry with an odd feeling of relief. "Let's suit up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry fiddled with the Allen Earpieces, as he had mentally dubbed them, explaining what he was doing to Supergirl the whole time. "So back on my Earth, we fought a villain who used sound waves as a weapon, he called himself Pied Piper."

"That is a cool name." She remarked.

"You've got some pretty decently named villains too, considering you don't have a comic geek to name them for you."

"I'm sure Winn wouldn't be opposed if we gave him the opportunity." The two chuckled, and then got back to business.

"So, I whipped up these bad boys. Err, sorry I keep saying 'bad boys'." He apologized sheepishly.

"Are they earbuds?" Supergirl asked, picking one up, thankfully ignoring his choice of words.

"Yeah, it'll protect us from Silver Banshee's yell-y voice." Hopefully at least. Barry was no slouch, but he also wasn't on Cisco's level, so there was a slight chance they might explode. Before he had a chance to tell her that, Lucy walked over.

"James just called. Livewire and Silver Banshee kidnapped Cat." She announced grimly. Continuing her steak of oddly coincidental verbal cues, the computers began to crackle and Livewire's visage appeared on every screen.

" _Hello, Red and Blue."_ Livewire sneered. _"Come to National City Park now if you don't want Cat's blood all over your hands…or all over the street."_ She laughed maniacally.

"You don't have to do this Barry. This is my fight." Supergirl warned him. Barry frowned, knowing that he technically didn't have to. He had supplied her with the Allen Earbuds, she could fight effectively. But that wasn't what a hero did.

"One for all and all for…" He quickly glanced at Supergirl desperately. "You guys have _Three Musketeers_ here, right?"

Supergirl nodded grimly. "All for one." She finished.

The two of them sped out of the DEO, heading for National City Park.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl landed in National Park to find people running around in panic, as was the usual. Hopefully Silver Banshee and Livewire would be humane enough to not attack civilians, but she kept an eye out just in case.

"Hey, Sparky!" Flash called out. "Hi, Shrieky." He said mockingly.

Supergirl gave him a momentary glance. Barry was a lot more confident when he was the Flash, almost to the point of being cocky.

"What do you say we step away from the nice lady and settle this like women?" Flash continued. Everyone within earshot stopped and stared at him, making the superhero shift uncomfortably. "What? There's more of you guys here than me." He defended.

Supergirl rolled her eyes, a slight smile on her face, and turned back to the two supervillainesses.

"Kill them both." Livewire commanded. Silver Banshee stepped forward and _screeched_ , and the sound waves washed over Supergirl without effect, though people several dozen feet away clutched their heads in pain. Silver Banshee's powers were getting stronger.

Silver Banshee looked in surprise at Supergirl and Flash in utter surprise that her attack didn't affect them.

"Told you it would work." Flash grinned at her. Supergirl grinned back and decided to take a page from his taunting handbook and took a step forward.

"What? You lose your voice?" She mocked.

"What are you waiting for?" Silver Banshee screeched at Livewire.

"Watch who you yell at!" Livewire grumbled, charging up and shooting two streams at the duo. Flash immediately moved in to action, dashing in between the two and punching them away. Livewire dispersed into the electrical system and Flash took off after her.

Supergirl flew over to Cat Grant, who was still chained to the park bench. "What took you so long?" Cat asked crossly.

"Are you kidding?" Supergirl asked disbelievingly, leaning down to rip the handcuffs off of her, just in time to take a hard punch from Silver Banshee, somehow strong enough to propel her back several feet and make her jaw sting.

Supergirl slammed her hands into the ground, ripping up a chunk of concrete and hurling it at Silver Banshee, who destroyed it with another sonic screech. Livewire appeared in a flash of light, still uncaught. She directed her gaze up at a passing helicopter. "I hate helicopters!" The woman hissed, throwing a lightning bolt at the helicopter.

Supergirl shot up into the sky, intercepting the burst of energy just before it could reach the helicopter. It was far more painful than normal, fueled by Flash's power and Livewire's own, and after only a few seconds Kara's control gaze out, sending her plummeting to the Earth, right in front of a group of terrified civilians.

"She's hurt."

"She saved the helicopter."

"She saved us!"

"She saved all of us!"

Supergirl groaned as she tried to push herself up, put her muscles weren't responding to her orders. She could barely focus just on the pain coursing through her, but she did hear all of the comments of the amazed crowd. Then she heard what sounded like a rush of hurried footsteps. She focused her bleary vision as much as she could, and found a crowd of people surrounding her protectively.

"Leave her alone!" One woman pleaded.

"Yesterday you people were ready to string her up. Now you're willing to die for her?" Livewire sneered.

The woman who had spoken up took another step forward. "She was willing to die for us."

"What do you say we thin the herd?" Livewire shot back. She shot her lightning down at the ground, propelling herself off the ground. She couldn't let this happen, she couldn't let herself live at the cost of someone else's death, not again.

"No…" She croaked. "Don't. Please, please."

At that moment, something unexpected happened. A hose of water slammed into Livewire, making her explode into a storm of electricity, flopping to the ground and taking out Silver Banshee with her. The crowd began cheering and Supergirl looked up to see the firemen shutting down their hose.

A thick blonde fireman walked over to Supergirl and offered his hand. "It was our turn to help you." Supergirl took the man's hand and stood up to a chorus of applause.

Flash appeared in a bolt of lightning, looking around in panic for any enemies, only to find that there were none.

"Are you okay?" He asked her immediately.

Supergirl looked at him and then around at the cheering crowd. "Never better, Flash."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara looked proudly up at the news report giving a glowing review of Supergirl's efforts to sacrifice herself for National City. As the newscaster ended his report, Winn began clapping quietly, so as not to attract attention.

"Hey, so what happened to Siobhan and Leslie? Did they get locked up at the DEO?" He asked.

"Nope." Kara responded. "Thanks to Barry, the National City Police Department has a way to lock up metahumans."

Kara could see James roll his eyes out of the corner of her eyes, but she ignored the uncomfortable stirring in her chest and pushed on.

"And like you told Supergirl, our enemies deserve a fair trial." She said to James, smiling nervously.

James forced a smile back at her. "Well, I'm always good for advice." The three of them sat in awkward silence for a moment until Winn suddenly straightened up all of a sudden, which he only did in one person's presence.

"Ms. Grant!" Kara exclaimed. "If it's all right with you, Barry is leaving town and I was going to see him off." She declared/asked. To her surprise, Ms. Grant barely glanced up from her tablet.

"Okay. Tell Mr. Allen to have a good time zipping around in his red outfit." Ms. Grant said dismissively, still poking away at her phone.

Kara blinked in surprise until her brain re-booted. "Wait, you knew he was the Flash?"

Ms. Grant rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Barry shows up, the Flash shows up, his insistence on that silly name, and he was so unfailingly charming and nice that he either had to be a superhero or a Mormon."

Ms. Grant took a step closer and made direct uncomfortable eye contact with Kara. "Kerah, I can spot the extraordinary pretending to be a nobody in my midst just like _that_." She snapped her fingers to prove her point. "Now, my eyebrow waxing with Arabella at 9 am tomorrow morning is not going to book itself. Feel how good it feels to dial."

With that, Ms. Grant walked off, leaving the trio to their usual post-Cat Grant stunned silence.

"I'm going to go help Barry." Kara told them.

Winn gave her a sad smile. "Tell him I hope he makes it home. It would kind of suck if he just ended up bumping around from universe to universe."

James laughed. "Yeah. Wish him luck for us." It seemed to pain him a great deal to say, but he got it out, and Kara decided to leave before it got too awkward.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You really think this is going to work?" Supergirl asked him Barry dubiously.

"Well, watching Livewire and Banshee work together reminded me of something that we tried on my Earth once." He gave her a challenging look. "You and I join forces. Literally. We combine your speed with my speed. If you throw me forward at your fastest, then…"

Barry grinned at Supergirl. "I might just break the dimensional barrier and get back home."

A similar smile worked its way onto Supergirl's face. "What do you mean, like a race?"

"It's only a race if you can keep up, Girl of Steel."

Kara chuckled as if he had told a truly idiotic joke, and Barry felt an uncomfortably familiar swooping in his stomach. "Just you watch, Scarlet Speedster." She retorted.

Barry chuckled as they stood side-by-side, ready to run. The moment was comfortable and natural. It could have lasted an eternity and Barry wouldn't have minded.

"I'm going to miss you, Barry Allen." Supergirl admitted. Barry looked back at her earnest grin and smirked back in return.

"I'm really going to miss you, Kara Danvers. Or Kara _Zor-El_." He teased. "Which is your alien name. Because you're an alien, which I think is very cool."

Kara laughed again, and Barry swallowed hard. Before he left he had to set things right. "I think James Olsen thinks so too." He said gently. His words seemed to catch her off guard, and her smile fell.

"What makes you say that?" Kara stammered.

"You remember when I told you to take things slow? That's good advice for a superhero, but its lousy advice for two people who really like each other. Maybe it's time to speed things up." He advised.

Kara nodded and seemed to take an unconscious step forward. "Maybe…" she muttered. Suddenly Barry's heart rate picked up. Was she going to…?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara's heart rate picked up as Barry seemed to unconsciously take a step towards her. Was he going to…?

They both stared at each other for a moment, and in that moment, Kara was honest with herself. She was going to miss him more than just as her new speedster hero friend. There was potential there…but he had to go. And she wanted to be with James anyway.

Right?

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry looked down at Kara with his heart hammering. He recognized this feeling; he had felt it for so long being around Iris and later being with Patty. He had just forced himself to be distracted with Livewire and Silver Banshee, but in that moment he knew that he was attracted to the blonde alien.

But he couldn't act. He had always had something of a chance, no matter how slim, with the other women in his life. Kara was…out of his league, an alien, and they lived in separate universes to boot.

Almost against his will, Barry took another step forward, bridging the small distance that covered them. If he was never going to see her again…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara took an infinitesimally small step towards Barry. If she was never going to see him again…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For a moment, Kara and Barry stared at one another, faces only an inch away from each other, their breath intermingling.

But then something pulled them both back. Barry looked down and could have sworn he saw Iris looking back at him, and Kara had to check her vision to make sure it wasn't actually James standing in front of her.

The two pulled back from one another, faces flushed with embarrassment and shame. They mutually decided to put that moment out of their minds and get down to business.

"Um, let's do this." Barry stammered. He powered up his tachyon device and put it on his chest, feeling the familiar electricity of the Speed Force coming to life inside him, drowning out the…whatever it was he had been feeling.

He chanced a look over at Kara, and she smiled back at him sickly. Both of them took their stances and got ready to run.

"On your marks…" Flash said, trying to inject as much enthusiastic anticipation into his voice as he could, but couldn't keep a croak out of his tone.

"Get set…" Kara continued, not looking at the speedster.

"GO!" They both shouted. They took off with a veritable windstorm of force behind them. It only took a few moments for both of them to reach their top speed, with Flash just slightly behind Supergirl. She looked over at Flash and grabbed his arm, shoving him with all her considerable force.

Flash felt a brief resistance in the air when she threw him forward, and pushed directly through it. This time, the pulsating blue portal that appeared was not unexpected, and he sped right into it, disappearing from Supergirl's Earth.

Supergirl slowed down and stared at the spot where the Flash had disappeared. "Goodbye Barry." She muttered. She gave one last lingering look, then turned away and shot into the sky.

This had helped her understand one thing at least. She needed to talk to James.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry was running through the breach, deciding to follow the same follow advice he had when he was time travelling. He focused on Iris, on Cisco, on Caitlin, all of his friends and family. He could almost feel himself coming closer and closer to Earth 1…

And then he bounced back. He slammed into the dimensional barrier, but it was like running into a wall of rubber. The inside of the breach went insane, writhing around him in a chaotic dance of energy. Earth 1 sped away from him, and Barry was falling along infinite dimensions.

Then suddenly Barry was back on solid ground. He looked around, ready to fight if he was dropped into a hostile situation, but he instead found himself in what appeared to be a spacious sitting room. A cheery fire crackled in a stone fireplace, throwing dancing shadows over the interior of the room. A tawny cat sleeping in the light opened a single eye, regarded Barry without interest, and went back to sleep.

"Hello, Flash! Or should I say, Barry Allen?" Barry spun around to find himself face to face with a man of average height and a scholarly air around him. "I see you heeded my call." The man continued, taking a seat in what appeared to be a Laz-Z-Boy.

Barry didn't lower his guard. Why hadn't he been able to reach his Earth? Who was this man?

"How do you know who I am?" Barry asked instead. "And what do you mean 'heeded your call'?"

Another man walked into the room and Barry couldn't help but stare, because the man looked like a carbon copy of John Cleese in a tuxedo. The Cleese-lookalike ignored Barry completely and handed the mysterious man a cup of coffee, then disappeared without a trace.

The man took a sip and sighed in contentment. "Well, to answer your questions in order of importance…I am Robert Johansson, but you can call be Bob. Or, more accurately, I am a replicant of the original Bob. As for the second, my call out to you in Earth-38, adapted from my FTL com system, is why you ended up here rather than back at your Earth."

Barry furrowed his brow and cautiously pulled down his cowl. Bob's voice was the same one that he had head in his dream back at CatCo. The one that had said…to find him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Barry asked. Bob tutted and took another sip of his coffee.

"Always going too fast, Barry. I thought you'd learned your lesson." Bob grinned, but his smile died when Barry didn't crack a smile. He needed to get home; a full day had already passed. He couldn't spend any more time fooling around in other dimensions.

Bob sighed, and suddenly the man seemed far older than his youthful appearance would suggest. "I contacted you to give you a choice about your Earth, Barry."

Barry shifted uncomfortably. "You're not going to try and convince me to help you take over the world, are you?" He joked hesitantly.

Bob laughed. "See, I knew you had a sense of humor, Barry! But no, I have no interest in your Earth, but in you. On one hand, you can return to your Earth and try to fight Zoom. On the other hand…you can return to Earth-38, and change your fate."

Barry's brow furrowed slightly. "Change my fate?"

Bob placed his coffee to the side and steepled his fingers. "Yes, Barry, your fate. Even though you can change time to your desires, your universe will fight to change things back to the way it wants things. As opposed to what you might think, Barry, the more powerful one is, the less choice they have. Your fate was dictated from the moment that lightning struck your body in the original timeline, before Thawne interfered."

"Wait, like God? There's a God?" Barry spluttered. He was mostly agnostic on the subject of deities, but the man in front of him was claiming that there was a deity that ruled his life.

Bob waved a hand dismissively. "Think of it more like universal tendencies rather than a proper God, if you so choose. You, Barry, are destined to lose people. Destined to suffer immensely to defeat your enemies. But it isn't just pain that is being affected. You are destined to be with Iris West, and to never be happy with anyone else."

Barry blinked in surprise. "But… I do have feelings for Iris. It's not some outside force making me do it, I've always loved her."

"Yes, you've loved her even before she became your adoptive sister. An eleven year old child deciding that no one else would compare to the eleven year old girl that lived in his house." Bob said disapprovingly.

Barry flushed slightly. "We…we're not really siblings." He mumbled.

"No, technically you're not. But you were everything but related by blood, and even when you dated through high school and college, even with Patty, you would have thrown away your relationship with these women for any chance to be with Iris."

"That doesn't mean that there's some other force at play forcing me to feel for her." Barry protested.

"No, I suppose it doesn't. It just doesn't show a tremendous amount of emotional maturity." Bob held up a hand to stop Barry from speaking. "Didn't it strike you as odd, though, that even on Earth-2 you and Iris had the same feelings for one another? In every world that deviates from your Earth, every timeline and multiverse variant of it, Iris West and Barry Allen will be drawn to each other, even if there's no reason. That's not true love, hell it's not love as anyone would recognize in it. There's no free will about it, you never had a _chance._ "

At some point Bob had stood up and walked nose to nose with Barry. Even though he was the one with superpowers, Barry took a step back from the man. Bob took a deep breath and backed off, retreating to his Laz-Z-Boy.

"I'm sorry. I tend to get upset over these…personal interferences that your reality and so many others exert. But, if that doesn't convince you, just know that you will not be able to beat Zoom as is, not as you are right now." Bob warned.

"What? But I have the tachyon enhancer and that makes me at least as fast as Zoom, right?" Suddenly the room seemed to sway beneath Barry. Could he honestly not beat Zoom, even after everything he had done?

"Technically, with the tachyon enhancer, you're faster than Zoom. But you're only as fast as that as long as it's attached to your chest, shooting you up with Speed Force juice. Do you want to depend on that against your mortal enemy?" Bob raised an eyebrow and spread his hands, a frank look on his face. "I wouldn't."

"Well, I can just have Harry make it smaller, so he can't rip it off, or notice it for that matter." Barry protested.

"Are you really going to be satisfied with relying of a fragile machine based steroid? Why would you do that, when you can train with it and become even faster than Thawne and Zoom combined?"

Barry paused. "You wouldn't suggest that unless you had a way for me to actually do it before facing Zoom, right?"

Bob grinned. "Indeed. You see, if you were to return to your Earth right now, only a second would have passed, despite having spent close to twelve hours on Earth-38."

"How is that possible? When we went to Earth-2 things were happening in real time…err, at the same speed, right? Why is Supergirl's Earth different?"

"Because the more out of sync the universes are, the more different they are. But speedsters like you can change their 'vibrations', as you described it, just by travelling. If you were to go back to your Earth, the ripple that would send out would bring yours and Supergirl's Earths closer together, which would make their time dilation shorter. At the moment, it's about 43,200:1. Meaning, if you were to return to Earth-38, you could spend a year training up your speed, and not even an hour would pass on your Earth."

Barry sunk down into an identical Laz-Z-Boy that materialized beneath him and thought. It was a risk, using the tachyon enhancer as a crutch. Plus, the jolt that it gave him seemed to make him more reckless than he normally would be. Possibly more emotional as well, which he did not need when battling his greatest enemy.

Despite the more immediate matter, what Bob had said about Iris was really getting to him. It didn't change his feelings, but it was unsettling to think his fate had been decided for him.

"If I were to return to my Earth," Barry began, "could I beat Zoom?" Bob seemed to have some sort of phenomenal cosmic power and appeared to like Barry, so maybe he could use that to make a more educated choice.

But Bob waggled a finger at him, a teasing smile on his face. "Ah-ah-ah, Barry. That would be a spoiler."

Barry's face fell. "However, I can tell you something important." Bob continued. Barry looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"If you are to return to your universe, this conversation and your little adventure on Earth-38 will disappear from your mind." Bob said bluntly.

Barry gaped at the man. "What? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't say I would be the one to do it." Bob said crossly. "Your universe won't be happy its star player had been interfered with, possibly messing up its plans for you. So your time with Supergirl would be suppressed, likely to the point that only a very dangerous situation could bring them out again, and even then it's unlikely that you will still feel what you felt. This conversation between you and me would fade completely."

Barry rubbed his face in his hands. It was a hard choice. Either one had the potential to go very wrong.

"What do you think I should do?" Barry asked Bob desperately. Bob looked at him with pity.

"I would advise…flip a coin."

"…What?"

Bob shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure which one you should choose at all, though I do have my biases. I'm not omnipotent. By going back to Earth-38, you shed all control your universe had on you, and I become unable to predict your future. And I can't tell you what would happen if you went back to your Earth so…"

A coin materialized in Bob's hand and he flicked it to Barry. Barry caught the coin and stared at it. On one side was a 1, on the other was a 38.

Barry stared at the coin, thinking. He was so focused that he missed the twisted flash of impatience on Bob's face, and the shadows around the room flaring.

He took a deep breath…

And flipped the coin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Note: This chapter was edited 7/31/17**

**Well, this is a new and exciting venture for me. I only have experience writing teenagers for the most part, so writing adults is pretty interesting, as well as hopefully writing some romance, which, as you can see, will play a role here.**

**I just binge-watched the Flash and Supergirl, and found myself rooting for a Barry and Kara relationship. Unfortunately, the show's universes and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) seem to disagree, and they generally make some good points, that being Kara and Barry are very similar and are interested in different people, so during their first meeting there's no romantic spark, and romantic relationships generally need that.**

**As it is, Kara and Barry are just attracted to one another, because I believe that 'love at first sight' and 'soulmates' are utter bullshit. As such, if they're going to be together it won't be a straight forward affair, which will be further complicated by James and Mon-El.**

**Despite the fact that the pairing is what made me want to write this, it's also an interesting opportunity for other things, so it won't** _**just** _ **be about the relationship.**

**Don't expect the same length or level of detail from later chapters if I choose to write them. The dialogue and descriptions are lifted directly from watching the episode** _**World's Finest,** _ **so as I further deviate from canon the quality might go down. You have been warned.**

**Btw, if anyone could give me tips from writing form a woman's point of view, that would be great. This is one of my first times doing it, and I'd like to not portray Kara's view inaccurately.**

**Other than that, PLEASE REVIEW! I would love comments that don't involve killing myself, as they inspire me to write more and better.**


	2. Battery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon changes

_Day Two_

Kara paced nervously in her apartment and listened intently, focusing her super-hearing to the largest range possible. James's heavy footsteps were echoing throughout the building, though she was likely the only one who could hear them. Every step closer made her heart rate spike. Was she really ready to do this? What would she say? How would he respond? She liked him and he liked her, so this should be simple, right? Right?

All too soon, or perhaps not soon enough, James was knocking on her door. Kara took a deep breath and made her way over, opening the door. James looked great, as usual. He also looked exceptionally nervous, something she had never thought she would see.

"Hi." James shifted his weight from side to side, looking from Kara to inside her house as if looking for someone.

"Hi. Come in." Kara opened the door wider and shut it behind them.

"So, uh, did Barry make it home safely?" James asked.

"Yes, I think. I hope so, at least." Kara was glad that James was facing away, as it gave her a moment to her flush of shame under control. It would be best to just forget about that moment all together. Besides, didn't it just highlight her feelings for James going beyond just attraction? Yes, yes, let's go with that.

"So what I think-"

"So, I was thinking-"

Both of them stopped when they realized they were speaking at the same time and shared an awkward chuckle. James made a gesture to indicate he wanted Kara to go first.

"Um, well." Come on, Kara. Words. You've been using them your whole life, why weren't they coming to her now? "I just wanted to talk to you about infinite Earths." She blurted out. She internally winced as one of James's eyebrows went up.

"Infinite Earths?"

"Yeah…" Kara muttered. "So, uh, Barry was saying…"

"Barry was saying…" James echoed, looking disappointed.

"Yeah, well, Barry was explaining to us that there's an infinite number of Earths that can occupy the same space, but never really interact or see one another." Kara continued nervously, walking closer to James. "And if two of those infinite Earths can manage to find a way to vibrate at the same speed, there's a chance they could be together."

James just looked lost, his forehead crinkling in confusion. "Kara, what are you trying to say?"

At that moment, something inside Kara snapped. "No more words, I'm so much better at doing…" Kara grabbed James and pulled him down into a heated kiss.

It lasted only for a few moments, but Kara felt fireworks go off as she deepened it as much as she could without injuring him. She had wanted this for so long…

Finally driven to separate by the need to breath, Kara leaned back and grinned nervously at James, who seemed to be in a daze. Kara waited, but he didn't react at all.

"Was that good?" Kara asked mischievously. James just stared down at her blankly, not moving a muscle and the Kara's heart settled somewhere in her stomach. Kara searched his face desperately for some kind of emotion, but he might as well have been made of stone.

Kara wasn't sure what this meant, she didn't have any information to go on. "Was it not good? Too good?" She felt a hysterical laugh bubble up in her throat, but James finally reacted, which was the good part. The bad part was that his action was turning away from her and walking out the door, still with no expression.

Something was wrong, with more than just James. Kara heard other people in the building move in synchronized, orderly footsteps. It was far too orderly to be normal. Kara moved to her window and saw an ocean of people marching in the dead of night.

Kara gaped as she took in the horrible display before her. This was not good, but one thing was clear.

She had to get to the DEO.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry sped out of the breach at the same spot that he had disappeared the first time, panting in exhaustion. Breaking the dimensional barrier three times in one day was a lot to take, even with the tachyon enhancer. Looking around, he noticed that a significant amount of time had passed: it was now early morning.

Now, time to find the others…

Barry grimaced as a sudden headache set in, probably a side-effect of using the tachyon device for too long. He didn't normally get those thanks to his regeneration, but maybe something was different about this Earth that he hadn't discovered earlier. Just to make sure, he took off the tachyon device and put it in his suit.

Barry put on the cowl to his suit and took off towards National City. He had enough cash with him to get a hotel room for the night, and then he could arrange something a little more long-lasting tomorrow…

Flash came to a halt when he noticed that something was very wrong. If this place was anything like Central City, it should be buzzing with noise at this hour, but it was quiet. Eerily quiet. Rushing around, Flash found that there were people about, but they were all marching into different buildings in a manner that was disturbingly Nazi-esque.

Hopefully this wasn't normal for this Earth…

Flash immediately sped to the one place he knew he could find the Girl of Steel, only to find that her apartment was completely empty. Oh God, if she was under whatever was controlling people, Flash wasn't sure he could do anything to stop her. She was even faster than him, and had her strength only matched it.

Flash shuddered, but tried to stay upbeat. Maybe there would be someone free of control at the DEO or CatCo.

It only took a brief dash inside the DEO to dispel Flash's attempt at hopefulness. Lucy and the other DEO agents had the blank look typically associated with mind control, but unfortunately they were still excellent shots. He almost took two rounds to the face and chest before bailing and going to CatCo. If there was no one there he didn't know what to do.

Flash really missed having everyone back at STAR Labs to back him up already.

Flash came to a halt at the top floor to CatCo, finally seeing a non-brainwashed person, a familiar caped blonde talking on the phone, surrounded by her enthralled co-workers. Despite his best efforts to the contrary, Flash still felt his breath hitch slightly when he saw her. With frustration, he pushed it down. Now was not the time.

"Kara!" Supergirl whipped around and gaped at him, cutting off her conversation with whoever was on the other end.

"Barry? What are you doing here, why aren't you home?" Supergirl rushed towards him with concern.

"No, it's fine, I'll tell you later. What's going on?" Barry pulled down his cowl and looked around. No meta back on his Earth could compare with this sort of overwhelming power. He grimaced as the headache grew slightly stronger, pounding at his temples.

"My uncle is using a device called Myriad to enslave people and make them do…something, I'm not sure what." Supergirl confessed. "But I'm sure it's nothing good."

"Gotcha. So we need to find your uncle-didn't know you had one by the way- and stop him somehow. Wait, is he an alien too, or is he your uncle from your adoptive family?" Barry asked.

Supergirl winced. "No, he's Kryptonian. That means he has all the same powers I do."

Barry's brain completely crashed. An evil alien with all of Supergirl's powers and a mind-controlled army to back him up.

"We're fucked." He decided.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl was just about to try and cheer Barry up when the elevator gave a _ding_ and the doors slid open, revealing Cat Grant, who seemed utterly un-mind controlled.

"Kerah, call Harrison Ford and tell him that I'm flattered, but once and for all, I do not date older men, especially ones that are married." Ms. Grant likely would have continued right into her office had Kara not cleared her throat, drawing her attention.

Supergirl heard an odd buzzing and looked over to see Barry somehow vibrating his face so that neither of them could see it properly, probably to prevent Ms. Grant from recognizing him. She hadn't decided to tell him that Ms. Grant already knew.

"Oh! Supergirl…and the Blur. What a pleasant surprise, do we have an appointment?" Ms. Grant asked politely.

"You're not a mindless drone." Supergirl said in disbelief.

"No, I learned that lesson when Demi Moore and I wore the same dress to the premiere of _Ghosts_ , never again." Ms. Grant picked at her phone nonchalantly.

"Ms. Grant, everyone is under control of an alien signal, but…you're not somehow. Everyone else is a veritable robot." Supergirl stared at her boss in disbelief.

"How have you not noticed?" Barry asked, his vibrating voice thick with confusion.

Ms. Grant shrugged. "I thought they were just being quiet and productive for once."

Supergirl's phone blipped and she picked it up, looking at the screen desperately, seeing that it was a text from Clark, promising he would be there soon. She grinned. With his help they would be able to take Non easily.

"Superman is coming." She announced. She rushed to the window, Flash and Ms. Grant hot on her trails. All three waited impatiently, doing their best to ignore the mind controlled citizens of National City below until a dot appeared on the skyline, rapidly growing larger.

"Okay, wait, who's Superman?" Barry asked. Ms. Grant sighed in exasperation.

"I know you're not from here, Blur, but couldn't you have at least done some research first?"

"That's him!" Supergirl declared. However, the Man of Steel suddenly took a dive and joined the crowd below in marching as Supergirl looked on in horror.

"No, Myriad is affecting my cousin too…" Supergirl muttered.

"If it can take control of Superman, is anyone's brain safe?" Ms. Grant wondered desperately. That also posed the question, why did it not affect her and Barry?

"Well, I may not be Superman, but I do have my moments." An irritatingly familiar voice barged in, accompanied by the irritatingly familiar face of Maxwell Lord, an odd silver device stuck to the side of his head.

Ms. Grant sneered at the businessman. "Why am I not surprised to see your brain is intact, Max? What do they say, only cockroaches survive the apocalypse?"

"Happy to see you too, Cat. You look lovely, considering the end is nigh. And…" Max turned to Barry with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know who you are. I don't like not knowing things."

Barry crossed his arms, apparently picking up on Supergirl's dislike for him. "I'm the Flash."

"Wait, why are you not affected?" Supergirl asked, steering the conversation back to the newest arrival. It couldn't just be linked to intelligence, which she could begrudgingly admit Maxwell Lord had in spades, as Winn and Lucy were both affected just the same as everyone else. Come to think of it, why wasn't Barry affected? Why was she not affected when Clark was?

Max tapped the device affixed to his head proudly. "Ion blockers. I realized Non was using my LTE interface system, that's why they broke into my lab over Christmas. They didn't need to steal anything, just make modifications to send neural signals to everyone in National City. These provide enough interference to shield me from its effects."

Supergirl gaped at the man, a familiar anger filling her like it usually did whenever Max did anything. "If you invented technology to block Myriad, why didn't you give it to the DEO? As it is there's only the four of us, and I doubt you'll be able to fight Non."

Max spread his arms in a gesture of helplessness. "After Hank and his Trusted Girl Friday stepped down, there was no one at the DEO I could trust." He gave her a significant look to imply he still didn't trust her.

"Well clearly not everyone needs these ear-thingies, because I don't have one and my brain is perfectly fine." Ms. Grant posed, looking confused.

Max looked smugly over at her. "I see you're wearing the earrings I sent you last night." He tapped his ion blockers again.

Ms. Grant clicked her tongue. "Ion blockers in the diamonds? So many karats and still so functional..."

Max took a step closer to Ms. Grant, daringly close. "It didn't seem right for the world to lose Cat Grant's mind." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, with Ms. Grant not blowing up on him. Supergirl felt like she should be looking away. The moment was surprisingly…tender. And didn't at all remind her of her completely forgotten moment with Barry, who she was adamantly not looking at.

"Speaking of which, where's your little blonde assistant? Out marching with the Third Reich?" Max quickly dispelled the moment with a joke, not even glancing over at Supergirl.

Ms. Grant sighed and walked away from the businessman. "Don't be glib, Max. Besides, I'm sure she's…fine."

"If it only affects humans, why is my cousin under its control?" Supergirl demanded. Did she only have a limited time before she succumbed too?

"Nature versus nurture. He may have an alien physiology, but he grew up on Earth, surrounded by ordinary people. It made his brain more human." Max chuckled and spread his arms. "The Man of Steel brought down because he went to kindergarten and watched _Sesame Street_."

"Is everything a joke to you?" Kara demanded.

Max's smile slipped from his face. "This is everything I have feared since the day Superman revealed himself. I've never been more serious."

"If this is you at your most serious I don't know that I want to see you when the world's not at st-ARGH." Barry's quip was interrupted by a sudden shout of pain. His face stopped vibrating and he fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain.

"Flash!" Supergirl rushed to his side and saw intense pain in Barry's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Is he being affected by Myriad too? Is he an alien?" Max asked, his hands drifting towards a hidden holster.

"No, he's human, he's just…different." Kara explained. "I thought it might protect him, but it looks like it's only delayed the inevitable." She had to prevent this somehow, Clark being under Non's control was bad enough, if Barry succumbed then the fight would be that much harder.

The three watched helplessly as Barry struggled on the ground. Just when he seemed to be calming down his hand shot to something in his pocket and he pulled out a collapsed version of what Supergirl recognized as the tachyon device. Barry looked up at her with pleading eyes.

Hoping this would make Barry better rather than more of a threat, Supergirl took the device and hooked it onto his chest, doing her best not to notice how close they were. The device hummed to life and covered the two with a luminescent blue glow. Supergirl could _feel_ something change around him, and Barry's erratic breathing slowed.

Ms. Grant and Max stared at them in confusion as Supergirl helped Barry to his feet.

"Anyone want to explain to me what in the sweet name of Al Gore is going on here?" Ms. Grant demanded.

Barry took a shuddering breath in. "My powers give me an accelerated healing ability, I think that's what's been keeping me safe; my brain repairing whatever Myriad has been doing to me. But the more I use my powers, the less is available to fight off Myriad."

Max snapped his fingers. "That makes sense. Myriad shuts down the connection between the amygdala and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Your powers should recognize it as either a virus or an injury and fight it off, but it would take an enormous amount of power to fight it off once it's got its claws in you."

Barry nodded wearily. "You're right. It's taking a lot out of me just to remain sane. I don't think I can fight very effectively without it."

Ms. Grant nearly threw her hands up in exasperation. "Great, so now one of the only people who's not under control is only useful as an example that leather doesn't even work for superheroes."

Barry pushed himself off of Supergirl and took a few unsteady steps. "I said I couldn't fight, not that I can't do anything at all." He turned to Max. "If you give me the schematics for your ion blocker, I should be able to make one for myself and others, bring a couple over to our side."

Max shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Speedy. I don't use schematics for my personal projects. And I don't think I have time to make any others."

Supergirl motioned to the enslaved workers of CatCo, all working relentlessly despite the minor resistance motion going on in their midst. "Well, do you have anything better to do?"

Max gave her a steady look back. "Yes. Because I have a plan to win us our city back."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this…" Barry muttered.

"Because I doubt you will, Leather Boy. We need to kill them all." Max declared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flash was somewhat off put by Maxwell Lord. The fact that Supergirl disliked him seemed to be a pretty good indication that he wasn't really the epitome of mortality, but to be fair, Cisco was a genius scientist that occasionally led to things getting worse than better, just look at the Cold Gun.

But then the man had suggested killing Non. Like putting a hand in the fire, Flash jerked back from the idea immediately. But…technically the only way to take care of Thawne had been to erase him from existence, and Flash had personally killed Sand Demon only a few months ago.

Flash shook his head. No. No, they didn't need to resort to killing.

Cat snorted. "How do you plan to take out an army of Supermans?"

"Supermen." Flash corrected idly.

Cat Grant huffed. "Great, another millennial that decided to pick English Lit. as their major rather than something useful."

"Can we please focus on the matter at hand?" Supergirl snapped, her hands going up to adjust her glasses, only to fall when she remembered they weren't there. She was staring daggers at Lord with more malice than Flash had thought she could muster.

"Of course, back to my genius proposition of killing off the Kryptonians. Are you in or out?"

"Care to elaborate?" Cat asked. Supergirl gave her a betrayed look that she would even consider the idea, but Cat held up a single, perfectly manicured finger. "You don't get a solution until you've considered all of the possibilities, now spill, Max." she ordered.

Max shrugged his shoulders, feigning helplessness. "Can't tell you until you're on board or not. Can't have Muscles or the Vibrator try and stop me."

"Killing is never the solution." Supergirl said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Barry winced. Probably not best to bring up what he had been thinking just a moment ago to Supergirl then.

"This is war!" Lord walked up to Supergirl and stared her down, looking utterly unafraid despite the fact that Supergirl could easily crush him. Maybe that was the point. "This isn't kittens stuck in trees or no consequence villains of the week here, blondie. Kill or be killed, so it's time to put on the big girl cape."

The two stared at each other, neither willing to back down. Suddenly, Supergirl turned around, just in time for a dark figure to stalk through the horde of mind controlled drones, a sneer on his severe face. There was a small symbol on his black jumpsuit that was exactly the same as Supergirl's.

"Looks like somebody made it thorough security…" Cat remarked blandly. Supergirl tensed defensively and Lord stepped protectively in front of Cat as Non walked closer.

"The son of Jor-El has bowed before me; soon you will too. I do not wish to fight you, child." Non rumbled, glowering at them all the same. His gaze lingered on Flash for a brief moment before returning to Supergirl.

"I think you're just afraid I'll win." Supergirl took a threatening step towards her uncle; her fists rising form her sides.

Non snorted. "Do not posture, little girl. I know you will not risk the lives of the fragile humans around you by fighting me, but there is no need for us to fight. I've already won. Astra's plan has defeated you in the end."

"This is victory to you?" Flash demanded. "What could possibly justify this." At least most of the other villains he had fought had some sort of motivation that could make sense. Greed, revenge, superiority complexes…

Non returned his gaze to Flash, and his brow crinkled further as he really looked at him. Flash felt like a bug under a microscope that might be casually lit on fire as mercifully let go. It took a significant amount of control not to shudder under those eyes.

"I am fulfilling the true desires of all sapient life in every galaxy, that only my wife had the strength to bring to fruition." Non declared.

"This is not what Astra wanted." Supergirl protested. "I was with her in her final moments and we forgave each other. She repented for what she had done."

For a moment it seemed like her words might get through to Non, but his face only hardened further.

"You know nothing of what Alura wanted. She wept for the destructions of countless worlds, worlds that we could have crushed beneath our boots. I have achieved peace on Earth. Goodwill towards men."

Cat snorted. "It's a lot less Christmas and a lot more _Walking Dead_ out there." The reference seemed to fly over Non's head completely.

"I have given Earth hope." Non denied. "I have saved them from themselves, from a world only interested in reality stars and political circuses than working together to solve the world's problems."

"Mind control is the solution to global warming, why didn't I think of that?" Lord mused sarcastically.

Non continued as if Lord hadn't interrupted. "With Myriad, racial divisions are no more. There are no Republicans, no Democrats. All are one, working for the good of all."

"You haven't saved anyone, you've just taken away what makes them human in the first place. You've chosen to see the worst in humanity, but if we work together we can help Earth avoid Krypton's fate." Supergirl posed, though she didn't have a lot of hope in her voice.

Non actually snorted in amusement. "Work with them? The only ones safe are these two, working only to please themselves and amuse the populace to death. If anything, they've only helped me."

Winn turned to face the group, expression blank, his posture rigid. "You've already drained us of our creativity and skill, making us drones." He said.

"Winn! Winn, can you hear me?" Supergirl rushed over to her friend, but Winn stared right through her. "Your inventions have drowned out sense and turned it into nonsense." He dictated at Lord.

James came from around the corner, looking no livelier than anyone else. "You have distracted the people, making them slaves to you." He said to Cat.

Neither looked particularly affected, but Supergirl had a look of torment on her face as she glanced back and forth between her friends.

"Everyone is united," Winn continued. "Everyone's creativity and thought dedicated to eradicating famine, disease and climate change."

Lord shook his head. "This isn't right, Non. Humanity needs to rise or fall based on their own merits, without interference."

The faces of every mind controlled person turned towards them. "Your heroics have done nothing to save this planet." Winn said to Supergirl. "This is the beauty and inevitability of Myriad." James continued.

Supergirl grit her teeth. "Non, stop this." She demanded. In return, Non gave her a ghoulish smile, cruelty seeping into his eyes.

"These are your friends, are they not?" He asked.

"Let them go." Supergirl demanded.

"You do not wish for me to free, say, Lucy Lane? Or any of the other brilliant minds in this city to help fight me? No? Just your _friends_?" Non grinned, or possibly grimaced. "I have lived with loss. It is time for you to know it as well."

Winn and James began marching to different sides of the building, with a red-headed female rising up to join them.

"Kelly?" Supergirl asked in confusion. "What are you doing? What are you doing to them?"

"Non has ended crime in National City in one day, in one second. Far more than any of you have ever done." Winn proclaimed. A sick feeling settled in Flash's stomach as he realized the three civilians weren't just walking away from them, each were walking to a window or ledge. But if Flash rushed to them, bound them so they couldn't jump, he risked succumbing to Myriad.

"No, no, no, no…" Lord muttered in horror.

James turned back to Kara and his face took on some semblance of expression. It was a small, simple smile, filled with pleasure. "Catch." He said simply.

Kelly, James and Winn skydived off of CatCo.

"No!" Supergirl cried. She rushed forward towards the ledge that James disappeared over, and Flash realized that there was no way she would be able to catch all three alone.

The Speed Force filled his body as he raced down the building, rapidly catching up to the falling missile that was Kelly, catching her just before she became a stain on the pavement and placing her on the ground. A moment later, Supergirl landed beside him with Winn and James in her arms.

Flash panted, falling to his knees. There was only so much that the tachyon enhancer could do, and the Speed force was running out of power to protect him.

"I wonder…if catching women….falling this building….is going to be a regular thing….around….here…." Flash panted. A white noise began to fill ears, and his hands reached to uncouple the tachyon enhancer from his chest with mechanical precision.

Flash met Supergirl's horrified eyes one last time before Myriad completely took over. It was up to her now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl watched as something vital died in Flash's eyes, and his expression became blank and hard like the others under the effects of Myriad. He straightened suddenly and electricity danced off of his body.

"Fascinating…" Flash breathed. "This one requires further observation." He muttered. In the blink of an eye, Flash was gone, off to do Non's bidding, only a gust of wind signalling his departure.

"Do not stand against me." James warned. He walked forward to cradle Supergirl's face in his hands gently, almost affectionately, but his grip was tight, and Non's face stared out of James's eyes. "Everyone you know, love and care for will die. Accept defeat, Kara Zor-El. I have already saved National City. Next…"

"The world." Winn concluded. Their point proven, James released her, and the duo turned and marched back towards CatCo, presumably to return to their work, Kelly trailing behind them. Supergirl wanted to stop them, but if she tried to take them out of the bounds of Myriad's control Non might just force them to kill themselves before they left the bounds of control.

Kara's phone rang again and she frantically dug it out of her pockets, seeing it came from a familiar number. She took a deep breath and flipped it open.

" _Kara? What's going on, are you all right?"_ Alex asked over the phone, concern evident.

"I'm fine." Kara said with all the confidence she could muster. Despite herself, James, Winn and Barry's hollow eyes haunted her.

" _You're lying."_ Alex deduced flatly.

Kara almost would have chuckled in any other situation at how well her sister knew her, but as it was Kara couldn't muster up the positive emotion to do that. But her sister still needed her. "Yes, yes I am. Did you track down Cadmus? Did you and Hank find Jeremiah?"

She really hoped they did, she could use some good news right now. The hesitation on the other end of the line was not reassuring.

" _We were on our way there until we heard about what was happening."_

No, this was not good. Kara knew Alex just as well as Alex knew her, and Kara could not risk her coming to National City and being controlled too.

"Wherever you are, you need to stay there." Kara ordered. "Anywhere is safer than National City right now."

" _Kara, we're not leaving you there by yourself!"_

"I'm, uh, not by myself. I've got Ms. Grant." And the Flash, up until a few seconds ago. Now he was on the other side as well.

" _Why wasn't Cat affected?"_ Alex asked in confusion. Kara winced. Alex was not going to like this…

"Maxwell Lord protected her and himself."

Alex sighed. _"Of course he did. Kara, you know that we can't trust him, right?"_

"Alex, we don't have much of a choice right now." At any moment Non could just order people to start killing themselves. "It's my only option." She couldn't let that happen, not while she could do something about it. Even…even if it meant killing her uncle.

"I love you, Alex."

" _Kara, listen-"_ Supergirl hung up her phone. If Alex continued she probably would have convinced her, but Supergirl was the only hope that National City had. Her…and Maxwell Lord.

Supergirl shot up into the sky and raced back into the building to find Ms. Grant looking dazed and Maxwell Lord bracing himself against a table, with Non nowhere to be seen. Both caught sight of Supergirl and quickly recomposed themselves with practiced skill.

"Are you finally ready to do what needs to be done?" Max demanded.

Supergirl swallowed her distaste for the man tried to see things objectively. She did need to consider his suggestion to win, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "What's your plan?"

As opposed to becoming giddier, as she had expected, Max's expression became more somber. "Well, before you and I buried the figurative hatchet and sang Kumbaya, I was working on a weapon to use against Kryptonians."

A weapon worse than Bizarro? That was obviously Kryptonite, but for Maxwell Lord to consider it some sort of ultimate weapon against Kryptonians it had to be something more powerful than just the Kryptonite sword Alex used.

"What kind of weapon?" Ms. Grant asked suspiciously, following Supergirl's vein of thought.

"It's a bomb filled with Kryptonite dust. If we set it off properly it'll irradiate the city. They'll choke to death, die painfully, and we can say bye-bye to this nightmare."

Supergirl narrowed her eyes. If the bomb somehow could displace enough Kryptonite dust to kill Non before he could escape, it would have to cover all of National City, and quickly, endangering her and Clark as well.

"Hold on a skosh, w-won't that kill Superman and Supergirl as well?" Ms. Grant stuttered.

"Not if she detonates it over the city and gets herself and Superman in time." He gave a sardonic bark of laughter. "She and Superman won't be able to come back to National City for roughly fifty years, but that seems to be a small price to save the world, eh?"

"What about the humans? Won't they be affected as well?" Kryptonite may be only toxic to Kryptonians, but last she checked breathing in large amounts of radioactive materials wasn't safe for any living being.

Max's expression went carefully blank. "The concussive force required to properly displace the Kryptonite dust will result in minor losses."

"What do you mean by losses, Max?" Ms. Grant asked suspiciously. Max hesitated, and for more than to just process the question.

"8% of the population." He said grimly.

"8% of the population, Max, 8% of four million people numbers well over 300,000." Ms. Grant calculated with disbelief. Kara's knees felt weak for a moment. 300,000 people? She doubted she and Clark combined had _saved_ that many people.

"Versus the seven billion people on the planet that Non wants to turn into his army of the undead." Max retorted vehemently. Ms. Grant turned to Supergirl for support only to find her silent.

"You're not actually considering this, are you?" Ms. Grant demanded. Supergirl stared at her mentor, conflicted, and turned away.

"Yes she is." Max didn't seem particularly pleased, just resigned. "Because she knows it's our only chance. If this spread s from National City it won't be long before every man, woman and child will succumb to Myriad, including your own children. I'm not going to let that happen." He declared. "I swore to save this world, and that's _exactly_ what I'm going to do."

"What if we tell Non we have this weapon? Force him to see reason." Supergirl proposed. They had forced Astra to see reason as well, so maybe it could work with Non.

Maxwell scoffed. "And give him the opportunity to flee and redo this somewhere else? Or eliminate it right off the bat and ruin our only chance of survival? You _just_ saw what he has the power to do. If your little lightning buddy hadn't been here your friend Kelly would have become a particularly gruesome corpse."

Ms. Grant scoffed. "Have you no shame?"

"No I don't." Maxwell bit back furiously. "All I have is my mind, and I don't know how long I'll keep that. What I do know is that every second we do nothing, we risk the end of humanity." Max turned and stepped closer to Supergirl, forcing her to look at him. At that moment, even though he had no powers, Max truly could have been the Man of Steel. "Time to save the world, Supergirl."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry lay on a cold metal table, stripped of every stitch of clothing. Normally he would feel vulnerable and exposed, anyone would, in this situation, but he didn't feel anything. Everything that happened to him was distant and insignificant, happening to some faceless person far away. Yet he had nothing else to do but listen to his captors, no emotion rising up in him.

A woman with blue skin and cruel features loomed over him, prodding his torso with her clawed hand and watching in fascination as he healed. The red jewels embedded in her forehead gleamed with an unholy light as she continued to run diagnostics on him, most of which Barry was sure was just causing him pain for the pleasure of seeing him bleed.

"I've never seen a specimen quiet like him before. My databases have no records of his kind." She said to Non, who was watching with crossed arms and a perpetual scowl.

"Is he human?" He grunted.

"Unfortunately so, my love. It is strange, I would put his speed as ranking with yours, yet his muscles are not naturally reinforced as a Kryptonians under the yellow sun. There is an unidentifiable substance that appears to be part of his genetic makeup, yet at the same time come from elsewhere."

The man frowned in contemplation. "How did you come by these powers?" Non directed his question to Barry.

_No, don't tell him._

"A particular accelerator explosion." Barry's mouth answered. "I was struck by lightning that was caused by the rogue elements it released, imbuing me with the Speed Force."

The woman prodded him once again idly, nonchalant despite the spurt of blood that followed it. "Are there any weaknesses to this ability of yours? This…Speed Force connection."

_Being in a coma for nine months, enormous eating requirement, being a cosmic plaything…_

"No." Barry's mouth answered.

"What are you up to, Indigo?" Non growled. Indigo shrugged innocently and held up a hand. The appendage re-shaped itself smoothly into a scalpel.

"It occurs to me, dearest, that if a mere human can survive this process, then it will only supplement our own considerable abilities." Indigo mused, a wicked smile carving itself onto her face. "Or, even better, we can instill your servants with this Speed Force. One servant will become the equal to thousands. No problem will go unsolved before you."

Indigo carved a bloody chunk of flesh out of Barry's arm and held it up, looking at it almost hungrily. "We are going to _rule_ this world…" She hissed.

Barry looked blankly up at Indigo and idly realized that he was hungry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl paced in Ms. Grant's office as Maxwell coordinated with General Lane on his laptop.

" _You have the President's authorization to proceed with your plan."_ General Lane reported gruffly. Supergirl frowned; she supported the President on almost every issue, she had hoped that maybe she would come up with a different solution. But if Cat Grand, Maxwell Lord and Supergirl couldn't come up with one, then it was doubtful anyone else could.

"Thank you, General." Maxwell responded diplomatically.

" _May God have mercy on our souls."_

Maxwell sighed heavily. "If there were a God, General, I doubt she would have put us in this mess in the first place." With that, Maxwell clicked the laptop closed and leaned back in his chair, a pensive look on his face.

Supergirl shook her head as she looked at him. The man was pessimism embodied. Always planning for the worst, seeing the evils in people rather than the good, and apparently nihilism. How could a person even function like that?

"How did you become like this?" Supergirl asked him without much hope.

To her surprise, Maxwell heaved a sigh and focused on her without contempt in his gaze. "Did I ever tell you how my parents died?"

"Alex told me they were exposed to a fatal virus when the government gave them faulty hazmat suits."

"What I didn't tell your dear old sis was that I warned them about those suits. I knew they wouldn't hold up. I begged them and the CDC to scrap the suits, but no one listened to me." Maxwell scoffed derisively, his eyes elsewhere. "The know-it-all. After all, who could know better than the government?"

Supergirl stared at Maxwell Lord. The man actually seemed vulnerable for a moment, and she almost thought she could see a tear prickling in his eye. Was this what she could have become? If she had somehow been able to prevent Krypton's destruction, would she have become like this?

"From that moment on, I swore I would protect people, if I could save them, I wouldn't ask for permission. I will forsake my own soul if necessary. I will act when no one else will." Maxwell stood up from his chair and walked to look down at the city.

"Just like you, I would jump out the window and save the day. We act, you and I. We're more alike than either you or I would like to admit."

"I hope not." Supergirl said firmly. Maxwell Lord had just as much potential to do evil as she herself did, but he decided to embrace his darkness, use it as a weapon.

Maxwell grunted, not giving an answer. "I'll be at my facility, getting the bomb ready."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You are being unjustifiably merciful." Indigo growled at Non. A deep corner of Barry's mind was numbly amused that they were so unconcerned with his presence that they had an open couple's spat right in front of him. Granted, he was hooked up to multiple machines at the moment, and looked more like a human battery than anything else, but still.

"There is no _need_ to kill. The humans are put to better use as part of our collective, and killing Kara Zor-El would only spare her the agony of watching everyone she loves suffer." Non growled. "I thought this might…please you."

One of the aliens, a man with a skull for a face, made a silent gagging noise as he hooked up yet _another_ machine to the sockets that Indigo had implanted in Barry's torso. Most of the machines were powering Myriad or other important machines, but this guy was using it to charge his phone.

_Apparently this world doesn't have iPhones. Go figure._

"You've always know how to please me." Indigo purred, draping her arms over Non. The man still seemed utterly stoic, and removed himself from her to examine his operation.

"Next we will overtake Metropolis. Then Gotham, to put an end to that caped crusader. Opal City, Central City, all will fall until we overtake Washington itself." Non rumbled.

Indigo scoffed. "You sound like a cut-rate politician running for office. The small dreams of a small man." She taunted. "They are not worthy of you. Already the humans have become more than they could have ever been."

"For a lesser species, they show surprisingly creativity." Non admitted grudgingly. It still sounded like an insult. "They show exceptional ingenuity."

"All the better to serve you." Indigo frowned. "And yet you falter."

"I am Lord of Earth." Non countered.

_You're Lord of National City at the most, get over yourself._

"You could be Lord of the Universe!" Indigo hissed. "You have a vast army that breath only because you give them permission to. You settle for a meager ball of dust when you have countless stars crying out to be ruled by you. Ultimate power in the palm of your hand! You could have them all worship you as I do."

Did she truly love him? What did she feel, anyway? Did Non are for her? Eh, it's not like it really mattered anyway. The only thing that mattered was just continuing to exist, to serve Non. And also the ever growing hole that seemed to be taking up space in his stomach.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara stared down at National City glumly. There were no more people out on the streets, and there were no lights on, either street lights on the ground or lamps in windows. Apparently Non had declared that all available electricity was to be used powering his specialty Kryptonian computers that people were toiling away at.

Careful, precise steps approached Kara from behind, but she didn't turn around. Cat Grant leaned on the railing next to her casually.

"I've always liked the view out this window. I wish I had it outside my window. I like looking out at the park, with all the people milling about their lives. Mothers pushing their strollers. Kids playing… I wonder how many will die in Max's moronic attempt to save the city."

"I don't know how to fight this." Supergirl couldn't even muster the energy or emotion to clench her fists. She just felt hopeless.

Cat Grant remained silent beside her, infuriatingly silent. "What would you have me do?" Supergirl asked her.

"You could come up with a better plan than irradiating the city and killing thousands of people." Ms. Grant suggested sardonically.

It should have made her mad. Should have made her feel something. But in her mind's eye, all Supergirl could see was a world burning, Krypton in flames, millions burning over the hubris of a few.

"My mother was faced with this decision on Krypton." Supergirl started. At any other point she would have been worried over revealing too much for fear of Ms. Grant including it in an exclusive, but now was not the time to hold back. "To act or do nothing, and she chose wrong. I love her, but she didn't save Krypton like she promised. So my planet died. My culture. My parents. My home. Everything wiped away."

Kara took a deep, shuddering breath. She had never talked about this with anyone. "How can I let that happen again, knowing I could have stopped it?" If she did she might become like Maxwell Lord, might become the person she had been under the effects of Red Kryptonite.

"I know you're scared. I am too." Ms. Grant confessed. "But so is Max. So is Non, for that matter. All you're doing is letting your fear guide you, but somebody has to find the courage to stand up even though they're afraid."

Supergirl let the ghost of a smile come on her face. "That's pretty inspirational, Ms. Grant."

Ms. Grant shrugged. "I learned from the best. You showed me the strength of having faith, when all of my life has been based on fear. You showed me believing in goodness was a path to success. Because of that, I started to let people in."

She chuckled lightly. "I even opened myself up to my assistant, Kerah, who in turn helped me have a relationship with my son again." Supergirl schooled her face into neutrality at the mention of her alter-ego.

"Now," Ms. Grant's tone became firmer, "I can't tell you what to do, Supergirl. But if you've taught me anything, it's that hope is stronger than fear. And that is what I think of whenever I see that S on your chest. You've changed me, and I am not easy to change. And I believe that you can reach others like you've reached me. Not with violence or fear or laser beams, but by being a symbol of humanity."

Supergirl actually smiled, and a warm feeling filled her chest at her boss's words. "You know I'm an alien, right?"

Ms. Grant huffed and pushed against her shoulder with, dare she say, affection. "You know what I mean."

The two couldn't really be comfortable, given that they were surrounded by their mind-controlled colleagues for hundreds of miles, but there was a certain peace between the two, a silence that let Supergirl mull over what Ms. Grant had told her. Slowly, an idea began to dawn in her mind, and an actual smile came to her face.

"Cat, I think you've given me an idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry's stomach rumbled in a manner that one didn't need super hearing to detect. Non glared over at him in a manner that managed to inspire no fear whatsoever, not that he could have inspired much in Barry at all given his current state.

"What is wrong with you?" Non growled.

"Hungry." Barry's mouth groaned. He didn't have much in the way of fat, given that it would be hard to eat enough to develop any at all, but now he was getting dangerously close to actually getting close to starvation, what with his electricity being harnessed and the constant healing. He didn't know how Speed Force induced healing would deal with that.

"I fed you twenty minutes ago, what in the sweet name of Rao are you?" Non growled in disbelief. He had indeed. Apparently even evil overlords understand the use of feeding their servants, even if it was disgusting barely passable beef substitute, and hadn't even filled 1/10th of his reserves.

"Huuuuunngry." Barry's mouth groaned. Non pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation and took a deep breath. He walked over to his control module and pulled up the image of a woman in a white paper hat hunched over at an advanced looking computer, her expression monotone and focused.

"Welcome to Big Belly Burger, may I take your order, Lord Non?"

"Forty Big Burgers with cheese, all with fries and Cokes." Non ordered, in two senses of the word. "I assume that is _acceptable_." He growled at Barry sarcastically.

"Pepsiiiiiiiiiii."

"They don't have Pepsi, they have Coke!" Non roared.

"Booooooooooo."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl and Cat Grant walked into Lord Tech, not stopped in the least by security, and walked into pushed Max's ridiculously ornate doors open to find him tinkering with a large metal suitcase holding his ultimate weapon.

"Ah, you changed your mind!" Max said genially. "I was starting to regret saving it. Though for the record, I thought the two of us would be having a lot more fun during Armageddon." He waggled his eyebrows at Ms. Grant suggestively, ignoring Supergirl's presence completely.

"Oh, Max, we're not here to talk to you about your bomb. Supergirl has a plan."

Max chuckled patronizingly. "Which means Cat browbeat you." He leaned casually against his desk. He appeared to have regained his swagger after thinking his plan was going to succeed.

"'Inspired' is closer to the truth. I'm a muse to the world, Max." Cat demurred.

Max shrugged and made a show of looking open to suggestions. "So, what's your plan?"

"Hope." Supergirl said confidently.

Max clicked his tongue and rubbed his chin in thought. "You know what, as tempting as that sounds, I'm going to go with the plan that has the bomb and kills the bad guys."

Supergirl shook her head. "No bomb. No one has to die."

"You think I want to do this?" Max demanded. "It's the only way to win."

"What are we winning if we use that bomb, Max? More chaos? More destruction? More lives lost, children pulled away from their families? You hated me for months, because you thought I'd use my power indiscriminately, killing people with no regard for their lives. Because that is the choice you're making with this bomb."

"Please tell me you've had enough therapy to know she's right." Cat gave Max a piercing stare.

"You were afraid of me." Supergirl stated. "Now you're afraid of Non. I understand that fear. But we cannot let it drive our actions. Make the choice that would honor your parents…and mine."

Max didn't grin. He didn't joke. He looked down at the bomb he had built and looked back at the duo. He sighed heavily and pushed the bomb away. "Alright. I'm listening."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry was still eating when Indigo dragged a red-haired woman in. Or rather, she walked in besides Indigo, expression numb, and then pulled her out of Myriad's effects. He swallowed his Big Belly burger and watched as she came back to consciousness.

They appeared to be having a very intense negotiation of some kind, but apparently Non found Barry 'unbearably irritating' and had fitted him with a set of noise cancelling earphones to make sure he couldn't respond to any question Non had mused to himself.

Barry gave the closest mental approximation he could to a mental shrug while under Myriad's effects and went back to eating Big Belly Burger #27.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Supergirl, Cat Grant and Maxwell Lord walked into an abandoned television station…" Max mused as he fiddled with the controls. "It sounds like the beginning of a joke."

"A terrible joke." Cat retorted, also trying to get the radio's systems to boot up. Supergirl rather agreed. Granted, she never laughed at anything that Maxwell Lord joked about, but still.

The trio of the only free minded people in National City had abandoned the zombie filled building in favor of the one place to suit their plan: an old television station that had been used originally by Ms. Grant to start off her on-air career. The entire place was rather antiquated, and covered in a decent amount of dust. Supergirl wasn't anything near an expert on this sort of technology and had basically had to stand aside as Ms. Grant and Max took over, Supergirl using her heat vision to keep an eye on their surroundings.

"Well, you know what they say: a man who can laugh in the face of danger is the most dangerous man of all. Speaking of jokes, mind explaining what your plan is?" Max asked.

"We are going to inspire people, Max. Broadcast a message of optimism love, and yes, hope, so strong that people will recognize it even under this spell." Ms. Grant declared.

Max huffed tiredly and continued fiddling with the dusty controls. "Where do we start?"

"We can't stop Myriad's signal, but we can piggyback off of it."

Max snorted. "We're lucky, this TV station is old."

"Not that old." Ms. Grant immediately defended. Supergirl snorted in amusement. Not even the end of the world would stop Ms. Grant from telling people off for implying she was old.

"Not old-old. But old enough that it uses broadcast technology instead of digital. We can transmit a signal by calibrating it to Myriad's frequency, without leaving anything to lead back to us."

"Take that, Indigo…" Supergirl muttered. The blue skinned aliens' ability to basically rule the over technology was extremely hard to counter when trying to go against her.

There was silence for a moment as everyone worked on their own tasks. "I do have one question for you, Max." Ms. Grant asked, her voice lower than normal.

"Only one? Fine, go ahead."

"The earrings. How did you know I'd wear them?"

Max very carefully did not look at either Supergirl or Ms. Grant. "I didn't. I guess…I had hope."

Supergirl narrowed her eyes as a faint flicker of heat came into her field of vision. It was definitely there, but it was like it was being suppressed by something to make it stealthier. That was suspicious. Suddenly there was a loud bang, loud enough to hear without super hearing.

"Stay here." Supergirl commanded. Max gave her a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Can do. Go get 'em, Supergirl."

Supergirl shot out of the TV station, only to find herself face to face with a familiar red-head. Alex's face was obscured by the total lack of lights, her form only visible because of the clunky glowing green armor she was dressed in. Maybe the Kryptonite armor protected her from the effects of Myriad! She and J'onn must have fought their way through the DEO to get it. But that still left the question of why she was here in the first place.

"Alex, what are you doing here? I told you not to come." Supergirl demanded.

"I warned you what would happen if you worked against me." Alex said. She walked closer, her motions smooth as a panther stalking its prey. "So I found your ultimate opponent. One that knows your every weakness."

Supergirl stumbled back. Alex didn't have the armor on to protect herself from Myriad, she had it on because she was under Non's control, and he wanted to force Supergirl to kill her sister or be killed.

"I am not doing this." Supergirl shook her head. This was too far, even for Non. "I'm _not_ going to fight my sister."

Rage filled her. Non didn't fight his own battles. He hid behind Astra before she died, he hid behind his hostages, and now he was refusing to fight her, despite his obvious disdain for her. "Did you hear that, Non? If you want to fight me, come and do it yourself. I'm not going to hurt Alex." Supergirl shouted.

"You seem to misunderstand who has the power in this situation." Alex said. "Kill Alex Danvers or let her kill you. Either way, you lose." Alex reached towards her back and unsheathed a glowing green machete.

"Recognize this? It's the same sword your sister used to kill Astra. It's almost justice." Alex sneered as she began to stalk towards Supergirl, twirling the deadly weapon.

"Alex, please wake up." Supergirl pleaded. She had to stop Non from discovering their plan, but she couldn't just restrain her because of the Kryptonite armor. If she couldn't get through to her then Supergirl would have no choice but to…

"She can't hear you." Supergirl began to feel faint from the large concentration of Kryptonite, but had to focus. There had to be some way out of this.

"Revenge won't bring Astra back."

Alex moved her head from side to side. "I don't want to bring Astra back. I just want you to join her."

Alex flourished her sword and sprang towards her sister, aiming for her neck. Supergirl leapt back and flew up in the air, moving aside to dodge another almost too close sword swipe that Alex leapt into the air to deliver.

The fight had begun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Another chapter, and another step closer to my ultimate goal of over 100,000 words! There isn't much in this chapter in the way of Barry and Kara interaction, but I figured they would put aside any attraction in a crisis situation.**

**I took more liberties with the dialogue and actions to show that Barry's presence is already changing things. So if it's not as good as the last chapter, just look back at the A/N from last chapter. I also hope you don't mind the role (or lack thereof) that Barry had in this chapter. He's still important, but I don't want it to be a "Barry and Kara one-shot every villain in the multiverse" thing.**

**By the way, go back and watch the beginning of "Duet". Barry is incredibly adorable during "Put a little love in your heart", getting into the dance moves and everything.**

**Reminder: this isn't just about Barry and Kara. Theirs are the POVs and eventually they will get together, but this is also a story about how Barry would change Earth-38.**


	3. The Right Thing to Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things go wrong

_Day 3_

Cisco stared at his monitor with confusion as static filled the cortex of STAR Labs. The lightning bolt image on his computer, his symbol for Barry on the map, had completely disappeared without a trace.

"Barry?" He asked hesitantly.

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Supergirl swerved to the side, once again barely dodging a mortal blow from the glowing Kryptonite blade. The fight should have been incredibly one-sided considering Supergirl's strength, speed, ability to fly and that she had a handle on her sisters fighting style from training so often with her.

Unfortunately, that was far from true.

Alex's armor did more than just weaken Supergirl with such a huge amount of radiation coming off of it, the armor empowered Alex as well, putting her strength frighteningly even with Supergirl's own weakened strength, and with Alex going for the kill so often, Supergirl was unable to focus enough to use her more advanced powers.

There was more than just Alex's ferocity and the Kryptonite armor, though. Even when Supergirl tried to engage Alex in close combat, they should be evenly matched, given that Supergirl had been able to dominate Alex in their latest spar. But Alex moved with more grace and ferocity than Supergirl had ever seen. It was clear Alex had been taking it easy on her for quite a while.

As it was, Supergirl was fighting a losing battle. She had been awake for several days now, her city had been taken over by her uncle, her convictions had been tested multiple times, and now her own sister was trying her best to _kill_ her, and getting closer every second.

Her only shot at victory was to get that armor off of her sister, which would be very difficult given that it would mean not getting bisected by a deadly sword aimed at her vitals. One of her options was to feint her sister, get in close, and rip it off. That would mean getting in close to her one weakness and avoid getting slashed and/or stabbed. Her other option was to get as much distance as possible to use her heat vision accurately to cut the armor off, hopefully avoiding getting violently dismembered in the process.

In the brief moment that Supergirl took to consider her options, Alex slashed her abdomen with the Kryptonite sword, easily cutting through her suit and shearing away at Supergirl's flesh, quickly re-writing her nerve endings with pure, white hot pain. Kara's body locked up in agony and she and vaguely recognized impacted the hard earth.

Even though she had gotten somewhat more acquainted with pain lately, Kara still couldn't believe just how much it _hurt._ Her hands went to the oozing wound and probed it, but found that there had been no shards that had broken off in the wound, much to her relief. The pain from the radiation was already diminishing, but the injury itself would distract her until it healed.

Kara pushed herself up with some difficulty, wincing in pain and exertion. Alex swung around and, rather than charging, sent out a blast from the gun mounted on her wrist. Kara fled to the sky as the green projectile punched through a metal shipping container behind her.

Non's determination stared out of Alex's face as she twirled her sword, getting ready to confront her once again. Kara couldn't take another close call like that, or she would die. Swallowing her reservations, Kara let power flood to her eyes as they began to glow with an otherworldly light.

Using her heat vision always took a moment to re-adjust her sight, and Non knew that as well as any Kryptonian. Alex's arm jerked up once more and this time, she didn't miss.

If the cut from the Kryptonite blade was pain, then the bullet in Kara's leg was pure agony. Her heat vision spluttered out and Kara slammed into the ground, nearly unable to move.

Her reserves were at the lowest point she could from a combination of Kryptonite, exhaustion, and the backfire of her heat vision. Trying to think was one of the hardest things she had experienced, trying to dig out the bullet the most painful. Even though her fingers felt thick and clumsy, she managed to rip out the bullet, taking a sizable portion of her leg with it, just in time to barely avoid the Kryptonite sword slamming into the pavement.

Kara tried to raise herself up, but Alex's foot pushed down on her chest hard, driving her breath out of her even as she was ground into the pavement. Alex flourished the sword and pointed it at Kara's throat.

Kara looked desperately into her sister's eyes for some symbol that she was still in there. "Alex, please." She pleaded. "I know you're in there. This isn't you, you don't want to do this." The blade inched closer, Alex's face hard and unrelenting.

"You've left me no choice." Non spat from Alex's mouth. "When you're reunited with Astra in the light of Rao, tell her that all her wishes have come true." For a moment, the blade seemed to sway slightly, and Kara could almost detect emotion in Alex's tone. But then her gaze hardened, and Alex raised her blade for the killing blow, aimed directly at the House of El symbol on Kara's chest.

At that precise moment, Kara heard two impacts on the ground.

"Alex, stop!"

Alex froze as Kara craned her head to look at the source of the voice. Eliza Danvers, blonde hair muddled from the wind and still wearing her night clothes, looked defiantly at her two daughters. Kneeling in pain, heaving desperately beside her was J'onn J'onzz, still disguised as Hank Henshaw.

"This isn't you." Eliza continued, taking a step towards Alex. A look of conflict passed over Alex's face, but then resolved itself into a neutral curiosity. Alex stepped off of Kara and stalked towards her mother.

"The Martian is protecting your mind." Alex noted clinically. "Who knows for how long, by the looks of him."

Kara had to agree. Hank had to brace himself against a nearby canister just to stay up, and he looked to be slowly reverting to his real form; his eyes glowing red and his skin shifting from black to green. Still, he stared back at Alex with determination.

"As long as he has to." Hank got out.

"If only you could have protected Alex's." Alex sneered. She turned back to Kara and her grip tightened on her sword. "Now her mother has to watch."

Who was saying that, Non or Alex? Even if it was a bit of Alex breaking through, she was still raising her sword, and Kara couldn't move without intense pain.

Eliza took another step forward. "Alex, you can beat this." The Kryptonite sword pierced the air a scant inch above Kara's head and struggled to move forward. Suddenly the blade fell to Alex's side as pain rampaged across Alex's face.

"You are not going to hurt me. You are not going to hurt Kara. We are _family._ " Eliza insisted, coming closer. "We are all stronger together, but you're the strongest of us all, Alex. Your father always said that and I know he's watching over you."

Some light dawned in Alex's eyes.

"Your father would be so proud."

Alex's body shivered and it looked like she was loosening and tightening her grip on the sword.

"We both are. We love you, and we believe in you. You are _Alex Danvers._ Nothing on Earth or beyond can change that."

Kara could almost _feel_ something change as Eliza embraced her daughter, heedless of the danger. "Come back to us, sweetie."

Alex froze up and the kryptonite sword clattered to the ground mere inches from Kara.

"Mom?" Alex whispered hoarsely. Eliza pulled away from her daughter and smiled tearfully.

"Yes, sweetie. It's me."

Alex pushed her mother away and powered down her kryptonite armor, ripping the machine off and kicking the kryptonite sword away from Kara.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Alex helped Kara rise unsteadily to her feet. Both were trembling now, though for different reasons. It was hard to tell who initiated the hug first, but neither was willing to let go for quite some time.

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Supergirl had never had someone fuss over her appearance so much before. The wounds from the kryptonite weapons were closed, though not completely healed, and her clothes had been stitched up to the point no one looking too closely could see. She had thought that was enough.

Cat Grant disagreed. They had no makeup on hand, so Ms. Grant settled for constantly adjusting her hair and trying to make sure she looked 'broadcast ready'. It was quite uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as having a kryptonite bullet in her leg, but it was close. Luckily, Ms. Grant gave her some space as the moment approached.

Supergirl took a deep breath and focused on her own heartbeat, unintentionally tuning in to what the rest of her team was saying behind the glass.

"So Supergirl's plan is to broadcast a symbol…of hope?" Supergirl heard Hank ask Max skeptically. After flying Eliza away, Hank had recovered much of his energy, though he was of limited use in a situation such as this.

"With a speech." Ms. Grant affirmed, fiddling with a machine.

"Also of hope." Max muttered, a hint of his normal snark in his voice.

"But…how will the message cut through Myriad and reach the people?" Hank asked, still confused. He was a military man through and through, it made sense he wouldn't understand. It was something only someone as optimistic as Supergirl or as possibly crazy as Ms. Grant to think up.

"Supergirl is my protégé, and reaching people is what I do." Ms. Grant said simply. Then Supergirl heard the sound of rustling fabric associated with a shrug. "And there is _some_ scientific evidence to support my plan." She added as an afterthought.

Max seemed to perk up at the mention of science, almost similar to Barry in that regard. Oh, Rao, Barry…what could Non and Indigo be doing to him now? Non clearly had plans for him beyond that of just a worker drone, and given that Barry was fairly unique even in her world meant that he would receive a lot of close attention from two of the most sadistic beings in the universe.

For a moment, Supergirl felt like she couldn't breathe, and multiple scenes of horrific torture flashed before her eyes. Dredging up what remained of her willpower; she suppressed the visions of torture, but couldn't entirely suppress the cold whisper of dread in the back of her mind.

"Myriad works by shutting down the parts of the human brain that give hope to hope and optimism, like spending a few decades in the service industry, essentially making everyone a drone just waiting to follow orders."

Everyone decided to ignore the joke, as they normally did.

"When I was under Myriad, I could see and hear, but it was like I was a complete stranger to myself." Alex explained. "And then Mom said something about my father and it was like flipping a switch in my brain. I could ignore Myriad and took control again, because I could hope."

Ms. Grant walked in to the studio and corrected Supergirl's posture for her, making her fold her hands and sit up straight. It was unfamiliar to her, but she forced a smile for her…mentor?

"That's what we're going to do for everyone else, once we can kick start the connection." Supergirl heard Alex say firmly. Supergirl felt a touch of warmth at the utter faith that her sister had in her. Once again, Max had to ruin the moment.

" _If_ we can get this running. Thing's a dinosaur." He grunted. "But yes, if I can get her speech on TV and the symbol on computers and phones, then I'm more of a genius than even I thought. And believe me, I think about my genius a lot."

Alex snorted as the machines began to hum to life. Lights began to flicker on, and Supergirl began to hear electricity hum to life around her.

Ms. Grant snapped her fingers in front of her face, bringing Supergirl's focus back to her. "I need you in the here and now, Supergirl." Ms. Grant said seriously. "This is going to be one of the hardest things you've ever done, Supergirl. Inspiring people is no easy task, but I know you will rise to the occasion."

Supergirl swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat and nodded. Ms. Grant squeezed her shoulder, though Supergirl could barely feel it, and walked out of the broadcast room.

"She's ready." Ms. Grant announced.

Max peered out at Supergirl and nodded. "Alrighty then…in three…two…" He flicked a switch and the cameras turned on.

Supergirl stared into the lenses of the camera and found herself almost too tired to actually be nervous, even knowing that this all hinged on her. But she still had a duty to perform, and she would do it.

"People of National City, this is Supergirl…and I hope you can hear me." Supergirl took a deep breath as her hands shook slightly, but continued. "We have been attacked. Mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors, children, families, everyone suddenly stopped by a force of evil as great as this world has ever known."

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Barry was, sadly, not as unfamiliar with voices in his head than he may have hoped, given that one of his worst enemies was a psychotic gorilla with psychic abilities, but that did not mean he was entirely prepared for the sudden white noise in his head he had come to associate with mind control.

He stopped eating as a vaguely familiar voice filled his mind.

" _People of National City, this is Supergirl…and I hope you can hear me."_ There was a brief pause as the voice took a deep breath.

" _We have been attacked. Mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors, children, families, everyone suddenly stopped by a force of evil as great as this world has ever known."_ Something stirred in Barry's mind, a small corner of his mind flickering to life.

" _Your attacker has sought to take your free will, your individuality, your spirit. Everything that makes you who you are."_ The woman's voice whispered.

Scenes began to play before Barry's eyes that made the corner of his mind grow larger. A storm of yellow and red lightning in a vicious dance, throwing disjointed shadows across a mother's horrified face…

" _When facing an attack like this, it's easy to feel hopeless. We retreat, we lose our strength, and we lose our selves. Believe me. I know."_

A boy was struck by lightning, fracturing his body nearly beyond repair. But in return, he was filled with energy unlike anything that was explainable, and his mind retreated, unable to cope with the impossibility of what he was becoming…

" _I lost everything when I was young."_

A glinting knife gouged a hole in a red headed woman's chest, and glinting set of handcuffs affixed themselves onto a horrified man's wrists. A boy was dragged away from his parents, from his whole world…

" _When I first landed on this planet, I was sad and alone. But I found out that there is so much love in this world out there for the taking."_

There was a man with a big heart taking in a scared chil _d. Joe. And Iris, his sou_ lmate, or sister? A science nerd with a thousand watt smile and an obsession for anything mech _anical, that was Cisco and there was Caitlin, re_ served but caring. _Patty. Wally. Harry. Jesse. Winn. Kara._

" _And you, people of National City, you helped me. You let me be who I'm meant to be. You gave me back to myself. You made me stronger than I ever thought possible, and I love you for that. Now, in each and every one of you, there is a light, a spirit, that cannot be snuffed out. That will never give up."_

There was a flame inside Barry Allen, and it had dimmed more than once. When he had lost his powers to Blackout. When Zoom had broken his back. When Eddie died. When Ronnie died. When he had let his mother die. But each time, there were people that needed him, and that flame grew larger than ever, becoming a bonfire.

The Speed Force being siphoned from Barry began to die off as it became re-routed. The sockets began to be slowly pushed out as Barry's body began to reject the foreign intrusions.

" _I need your help again. I need you to hope. Hope that you will remember that you can all be heroes. Hope that when faced with an enemy determined to destroy your spirit, you will fight back and thrive. Hope that those who once may have shunned you will come to your aid in a moment of crisis."_

New images began to pore in, clean and crisp. A blonde woman with extraordinary powers requesting his help for hers in turn. Fighting side by side, only to fail miserably. Succeeding, not because of strength or speed, but because of the people she inspired. A near moment of intimacy, narrowly avoided, but unable to completely cover what had lead up to it.

" _Hope that you will once again see the faces of those you love...and perhaps even those you have lost."_

The Speed Force roared to life in his body, and Barry Allen screamed in pain as the last of the devices hooked into his flesh were forcibly pushed out, electricity thrashing around his body in a vicious display of power.

Non turned around in shock as his Myriad interface went dead. Barry slammed into the man and actually managed to throw the insane Kryptonian off his feet, though it felt like slamming into a steel wall. Indigo turned to stab him, but Barry dodged and sped out of the hellhole as fast as he could, pausing only to grab what remained of his suit.

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Kara heaved a sigh of relief as it was reported that more and more people were coming out from Myriad's control, slumping into her seat in relief. The process of freeing people from advanced alien tech's mind control was easier than anyone had expected, but that didn't mean that it was fast. Those that knew Supergirl personally, namely the DEO and Team Supergirl, were freed from Myriad's effects quickly. It took anywhere from minutes to hours for other members of the populace, and there were still several thousand people that were under control, though they were no real trouble, given that they were putting up enough of a fight to incapacitate themselves.

The DEO was once again buzzing with activity, lacking the methodical efficiency that they had when they were under Non's control. Kara wasn't exactly sure what everyone was doing, and lacked the energy to listen in to their conversations, or really care even. Her wounds had long since healed over, but her body felt heavy and her thoughts were slow.

Kara caught the sharp scent of burning ozone and a red blur appeared in the middle of the DEO, surrounded by a halo of yellow lightning. A shot of adrenaline brought Kara to her feet, ready to fight, before her mind caught up with her.

"Barry!" She said in surprise, lowering her fists. The man, frankly, looked awful. His suit was cut in multiple places, and he looked gaunt rather than thin, as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. What were worse were his eyes. They glowed with a fiercer light than the wisps of lightning that slowly began to die as Barry knees buckled and he fell, his terrible eyes remaining the same.

Kara caught him before he hit the ground and lowered him to the ground. "Barry? Barry, what's wrong?" She asked desperately.

"Foooooooood." Barry groaned. The unexpectedness of the comment caught her off guard, but one of the DEO agents passing by tossed a granola bar at the man. There was a blur of motion, the sound of swallowing, and only the wrapper remained.

What happened next was a brief few minutes of amusement for the previously mind-controlled DEO agents as they hocked food in Barry's direction and watched him devour it. As Barry ate more and more, the electricity around him died and his eyes returned to normal, though sunken and exhausted.

When he seemed stable enough, Kara wrapped an arm around him and they limped over to Alex's lab, where Kara's sister was working on…something.

Alex looked up briefly to smile, and then noticed the man under her arm. "What the hell, K-Supergirl? Who's that?" She basically dragged Barry onto her table, ignoring both Kara and Barry's efforts to the contrary.

"Hi, Kara's sister." Barry muttered blearily. A spark jumped off of his skin and Alex pulled back with a hiss.

"Is he like Livewire? Wait, he knows who you are?" Alex demanded.

Kara rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Er…Barry, this is my sister, Alex, and Alex, this is Barry Allen, also known as the Flash and no, he's not like Livewire. Well, he sort of is, but he doesn't have electricity powers."

"Technically I do." Barry interrupted. Someone threw a pop-tart at him and he went quiet for a half second to chew.

"Well, technically he does, but he generates it from running." Kara continued, giving Barry a concerned look. "He's from an alternate reality where regular people get powers, rather than there being aliens. He made a breach and accidently came here a few days ago and I helped him get home, but he came back for some reason and ended up under Non's control."

It was a testament to Alex's concentration that she didn't even pause in her examination of Barry as she absorbed the information. "You know, Kara, it's quite sad that this isn't the weirdest thing that happened to you. But if you two are friends, why did it take him so long to throw off Myriad's effects?"

That question had briefly occurred to Kara when he had appeared, but it had been overwhelmed by her concern for her friend.

"Erm, I actually got out of Myriad a few hours ago." Barry admitted, his eyes somewhat hooded with exhaustion. "But the Speed Force in my system was the only thing keeping me going after all the constant draining from Non. After just a few minutes running around looking for you, I collapsed. When I woke up, I came straight here."

Barry began to doze off as he finished his explanation, even though Alex was taking a blood sample. Kara hovered over the two as Alex analyzed the sample and made notes on her computer.

"Is he alright?" Kara asked in concern. Alex always looked very serious when she was working, and sometimes serious and upset looked very similar on Alex's face.

"Well, his glucose levels are very low, but isn't an immediate danger thanks to my co-worker's generosity." Alex muttered. "But whatever this….'Speed Force' is, it is fascinating. It's like a self-renewing energy source that is a part of him, yet separate at the same time. It seems to be like how yellow solar energy powers your own abilities, but all of the Speed Force is going into making him faster."

Alex looked like she would gladly spend the next few weeks studying the results –she was a scientist just as much as she was a field agent- but instead leaned down and pulled out a large granola bar from the back of her supply cabinet.

"We had these prepared in case you ever needed food to help you heal. Luckily, you tend to eat enough that you don't need to." Kara gave her sister a light shove at the remark, but it was definitely true. Kara only needed to worry about depleting her solar reserves most of the time, not running out of calories.

Alex gave Barry a light slap that completely failed to wake the speedster. "Do you want to do the honors?" Alex asked. Normally Kara would hesitate, but now that the adrenaline rush was subsiding, she was tired, and she reacted immediately.

Her hand struck Barry's face, hard. The man jerked awake and rather than scream in pain, simply looked up at Kara with shock. "Did you just _slap_ me?" Barry asked incredulously.

In that moment, Alex stuffed the bar into Barry's mouth, seemingly unconcerned about the possibility of Barry choking. Barry reflexively gulped it down and the computer pinged as Barry's glucose levels began to rise, his body processing the food faster than seemed normal. Barry seemed to regain a bit of his color and seemed more alert.

"Sorry about that." Kara muttered in embarrassment, her cheeks flushing slightly. She had never thought she would hit one of her friends, and it wasn't even in anger, just in exhaustion.

Barry nodded in distraction as he devoured another bar that Alex handed him. "You know, my friend Cisco made some bars that were just like this…this one has something else in it though. Pecans?"

"It's Kara's favorite." Alex said by way of explanation, still examining Barry's blood samples.

"I could take one of those." Kara took another bar and the lab went silent as Kara and Barry ate in silence and Alex took another blood sample. It didn't seem to bother Barry in the least, and his wound healed over in seconds.

"So, Barry, if you're from another dimension, where exactly will you be staying?" Alex asked, a slight tone of disbelief in her voice. Kara made a weary mental note to explain the whole 'multi-verse' thing to her sister later.

Barry was silent. Kara glanced over to find that it was because he once again had drifted off to sleep.

"I'm not going to slap him again." Kara immediately said. Alex snorted and pulled out another couple of the bars and handed them to Kara.

"Make sure he eats at least two of these when he wakes up in the morning." Alex instructed. "I would recommend you eat one tonight as well, cause I doubt that any of your normal pizza places will be open for a while."

Kara took the bars in confusion. "Wait, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"Well, your friend looks like he's in no shape to be dumped off at a hotel, so you're going to have to take him back to your place until he recovers."

Kara gaped at her sister. "You want me to…take him home? Aren't older sisters supposed to be concerned about strange men in their sister's apartments?"

Alex snorted. "I doubt you would show so much concern if he weren't a good person, and I doubt very much that he would be able to lay a hand on you without you pulverizing him. Besides, you can just dump him on your couch and he'll sleep the night through. Looks like you will too, so you better get going."

She made a shooing motion at her sister. Kara heaved a sigh, knowing both that her sister was right and there was no point in arguing with her. That didn't mean she was looking forward to hauling Barry back to her apartment in her current condition.

"Alright, come on, Barry." Kara picked up the red suited man with very little effort and walked through the DEO with Barry slung over her shoulder. Had she been more alert she would have noticed a few agents taking pictures and snickering, but she was completely focused on getting home and to bed.

The moment she was out of the cave she flew back to her apartment at her top speed, a fraction of what she could normally achieve but still faster than any human could track her. Luckily, her windows were still open from the last time she…left. After kissing James. Who she would be seeing at work tomorrow.

Kara couldn't help a frustrated sigh that escaped her lips. Well, that was a problem for future Kara. Right now she walked over to her couch and dumped Barry on it with considerably less care than she normally would have. It was a testament to how tired she was that Barry didn't stir in the slightest at the manhandling and super speed journey.

Kara scribbled a note to Barry and set the bars on the table, telling him Alex's instructions and asking him to let her sleep in as much as possible. She needed her sleep, especially for tomorrow, and her eyelids were growing heavier by the second. Kara padded over to her own bed, barely conscious, and rolled into her bed with such a profound feeling of relief that it was almost like the opposite of Kryptonite.

Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed as she slowly began to drift off to sleep, aware only of her own heartbeat and the slow sound of Barry's breathing.

Barry muttered something in his sleep and fell to the ground with a thud, still not waking. Kara bit back a small chuckle as her consciousness began to recede and darkness overtook her vision.

Perhaps this wouldn't be all that bad.

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_Day 4_

"I cannot believe that man!"

Despite her best efforts, Kara Danvers was not immune to having a bad day, just like everyone else. In fact, during her entire tenure as Cat Grant's assistant, she had only had two bad days, for what reasons her co-workers would not ever be privy to. However, during those two days, every person that worked at CatCo learned a very simple truth.

Do not fuck with Kara Danvers on one of her bad days.

So, when Kara walked out of the elevator, latte in hand as always, businessmen and women alike averted their gazes and found somewhere else to be, practically tripping over themselves to get away. She didn't _look_ any different than usual, but there was a palpable feeling of danger in the air, roughly akin to an armored bear with a nuclear bomb on its back ambling in. The best strategy was just hope that whatever led to the bear walking in would resolve itself and hope no one got hurt.

"Kara, is everything all right?" Winn asked, rushing up to his friend in concern. He was the only one who was brave (or possibly foolish) to approach Kara when she was upset, with even James holding back in surprise.

"Yes, _I'm_ fine, but you might want to take things up with Barry." Kara snapped, taking a yellow folder that was tentatively offered to her by one of the secretaries.

Winn's expression went blank for a moment. "Barry? Barry's _here_? What happened, did he not break the dimensional barrier? Why didn't I know about this?" He let a barrage of questions come out all at once and likely would have continued if it weren't for the continuing darkening expression on Kara's face.

"No, he did manage to break the dimensional barrier." Kara answered shortly. "But apparently he found out, _somehow,_ that time manages to move much slower here compared to his Earth, so he's going to stay here for a while."

"You…don't seem very happy about that." Winn remarked, his sentence only barely managing to not become a question. Concern was displayed openly on his face and Kara felt a brief flash of guilt for making him worry. She took a deep breath and shoved her emotions down as much as she could.

"Don't worry Winn, nothing's wrong. It's just…"

That Barry wasn't interested in being the Flash as much as he was training. He had explained to her that even with the time dilation, he didn't want to leave Earth-2 subject to Zoom's terrors any longer than he had to. Thus, he told her his time partnered with her would have to be much shorter than she would prefer it to be, so that he could train to get faster than Zoom and be able to puncture the dimensional barrier all on his own.

What was worse was that Barry didn't seem to think anything was wrong with what he was saying! He wasn't outright refusing to be the Flash, but his plan seemed to be finding an isolated area to train for as long as possible, not wanting to 'get in her way'. And yes, while Kara could handle herself, there were times when having a speedster around to help get civilians out of the way or help her fight would be very welcome.

Needless to say, the two had not parted on very good terms when Kara left for work.

"It's just…Barry was up early this morning making pancakes." Kara said finally.

Winn gave her a look of disbelief. "You're upset…that he was making pancakes for you?"

"That's my move, Winn, you know that! That one time you came over to my house and spontaneously caught the flu I made you, like, a dozen blueberry pancakes!" Kara defended. Winn coughed and muttered something about Barry dodging a bullet.

Technically Kara's complaint was even true, though she had omitted the part about Barry actually making a couple dozen pancakes, all at super speed. Kara wasn't sure how he managed to get his speed to apply to how fast he could cook something (something she privately vowed to try later), but the resulting breakfast had dragged Kara out of bed well before she had wanted to, which may have contributed to her slight crankiness.

That was the moment that James walked over, having mustered up enough of his courage. "Hey."

Kara set down her papers and turned to her two friends, feeling an awkward tenseness fill the air now that her anger wasn't suffocating everyone in the nearby vicinity.

"Well, we actually just wanted to tell you that…the things we said to you…it was, er…." Winn stuttered nervously.

"What he's trying to say," James cut in, "is that we're sorry."

Kara's couldn't help the sad smile that came to her face. Even when they were mind controlled and had no choice, what they were concerned about what an evil mastermind had forced them to say to her.

"It's okay, you guys. That wasn't you. This," she gestured to the two, Winn slightly slouched and James standing tall rather than their awkward perfect posture when they were controlled. ", this is you."

She reached out and pulled the duo into a hug. The two didn't seem to mind that they had to bend down to do it, and the three friends enjoyed a simple moment of peace.

Finally, the three leaned back, and Winn grinned at her. "And thanks again for saving our lives." They all chuckled and any awkwardness from a few moments ago dissipated.

"Um, Kara, I think we need to talk about that _thing._ You know, uh, right before Myriad happened." James said.

The awkwardness was back. Kara felt her cheeks get warm as that night flashed before her eyes, and James looked no better.

"The thing…." She muttered.

James nodded. The _thing_ thing."

Kara glanced down at the documents in her hands and tried to will the blood to leave her cheeks. "Right, yeah, that thing." She fervently pushed away the corner of her mind that was reminding her of the last time she had felt this awkward.

Winn glanced between the two and realization dawned suddenly in his eyes. "Oh, this thing has nothing to do with me. That's good, I'll just…be over there." Winn pointed in a random direction and immediately left, glancing over his shoulder at the embarrassed duo.

Kara steadfastly looked down at her desk as James got closer.

"You kissed me."

Kara nodded, her eyes still fixed downwards. "I kissed you." She echoed.

"That you did." Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a slight smirk work its way onto his face and involuntarily felt one twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm sorry if I kissed you when you weren't in control of yourself, because I am all about consent." Kara burst out, finally making eye contact with her…friend/boyfriend/colleague. Whatever they were now.

James chuckled, and Kara felt a reassuringly familiar swooping in her stomach.

"Don't worry, I was myself." James confirmed. "Mostly at least."

Kara hesitated. This was why she had avoided words in the first place, it was so much simpler to just act…"And how did yourself feel about that?"

James opened his mouth and hesitated. Right before he could say something, Ms. Grant walked in, looking no worse despite the fact that she had been up just as much as Kara and was a normal human to boot.

"The morning meeting began 16 seconds ago. You people were more punctual when you were drones." She grabbed her latte off of Kara's desk without looking at them. "Scurry!"

Kara smiled nervously at James. "Later?" He looked disappointed, but nodded. "Later."

"Today, please!" Ms. Grant barked. The two quickly scurried into Ms. Grant's office and prepared themselves for their daily dose of orders.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry was on a mission. It was of pivotal importance for him to complete the task at hand, lest he risk dying and subjecting all worlds to the mercy of Zoom.

"I'll take another sticky bun, please."

The waitress was already prepared, and set another one of the sugary treats in front of him, whisking away his previous plate with efficiency. Barry began methodically cutting apart the sticky bun and popped it into his mouth, barely bothering to chew before swallowing.

Despite the bars that he had eaten, Barry's body weight was lower than it had ever been, even lower than before he had discovered he needed to eat more or less constantly to continue using his powers. Kara had a lot of credit saved up at this Earth-38 equivalent of Jitters, and had recommended the sticky buns as a good source of energy.

She was right. He had already had around a dozen and was actually _feeling_ himself begin to gain some weight back. Good thing she had recommended this before she had gotten mad at him and stormed out.

Barry could understand why Kara was upset with him. Hell, he was still conflicted about his decision. But the Flash was unneeded here in National City, they had Supergirl to protect them, and Barry's time would be better spent weaning himself off of the tachyon device in preparation to fight Zoom.

Besides, it would keep Kara safe. Barry had been fine with being around Kara when he had been sure he would be on Earth-38 for a short time, but when he had woken up on her floor and seen that she felt safe enough to sleep a few feet away from him, it had brought a shudder of despair so strong that it almost felt like he had been struck by lightning again.

Just a few hours ago, he had been under the control of an extra-terrestrial maniac, and he hadn't been able to free himself. That was all Supergirl's doing. It hadn't even been him that had helped her defeat Livewire and Silver Banshee, that had been people that she had inspired. All he had done was empower their enemies by throwing lightning at Livewire and then by giving Non a nearly limitless supply of power.

Barry shook himself out of his dark thoughts and focused on the sweet taste of his sticky bun. It was simple: this world was better off without the Flash to get in Supergirl's way too often.

But…that didn't mean that Barry Allen couldn't be around Kara Danvers.

A small smile that Barry didn't even realize he had grew as he took a bite of the sticky bun. They really were good.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl walked confidently into the DEO to find that most people were working on repairing damages now that everyone had been freed from Myriad. She winced slightly, knowing that most of the damage had been because of her. Granted, she had been avoiding Kryptonite bullets, but still.

She saw Alex trying to pull a heavy metal table upright in one of the labs. Supergirl immediately rushed to her side and pushed the table up, feeling virtually no resistance from it.

"Thanks," Alex breathed, rolling her shoulders and wincing. "Swinging around that sword always leaves me sore. Kryptonite is heavy."

Supergirl snorted and patted her sister on her non-aching shoulder, being careful to not make the gesture of sympathy painful.

"Alex?" Eliza rounded the corner, carefully stepping over shards of glass but looking intent. "I need to ask you a question."

Alex didn't bother looking defensive or tensing up. She just sighed and looked defeated. "Go ahead, Mom."

"Why did you and J'onn J'onzz really come to see me in Midvale? And why wouldn't you tell me?" Eliza demanded. The two sisters exchanged glances and shuffled slightly, feeling more like chastised teenagers than elite government agents.

Eliza looked at the two and lifted her chin. "You know I can handle anything you have to say."

Alex nodded silently and made a gesture towards a nearby stool. "You probably want to sit down for this."

The words did not seem to comfort Eliza any, but she took a seat on the stool anyway. Supergirl stepped away as Alex walked closer to her mother and looked her right in the eyes. "Dad is still alive."

"What?" Eliza whispered. She shook her head slowly. "No, that can't be possible, it's been ten years!"

"J'onn saw into the mind of the man that captured him. They have him at a secret facility called Cadmus." Alex explained.

"But why would he be there?" Eliza questioned. "What could they want from him that would require ten years, it just doesn't make any sense-"

"-I know it doesn't make any sense." Alex cut her mother off. "But once Non and Indigo are captured, J'onn and I are going to find him and bring him home to us."

"We all will." Supergirl promised. She and Jeremiah may not have gotten very close during the short time that she had lived at his house, but he was a good man and her adopted father. She would rip Cadmus apart to find him if necessary.

Eliza stared off into the distance and tears sparkled in the corners of her eyes. "Jeremiah is alive…" She murmured.

"Well, isn't this just a regular Hallmark moment?" Maxwell Lord leaned casually against the doorframe of the lab. Supergirl nearly rolled her eyes at the man's tendency to ruin perfectly good moments with ill-timed jokes.

"Don't you have someplace to be? Like maybe at your business, helping your employees get over what just happened?" Alex asked coldly. Eliza wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood to help stare the man down.

"That's what I pay psychology majors to do for me so that I can worry on what's still happening." Maxwell said seriously. The words sent a chill through Supergirl. Arrogant jerk he may be, but Maxwell Lord wasn't one to joke about something like Myriad after everything that had happened. Still, she hoped that he was wrong.

"Everyone has been protected from Myriad and we now know how to cure anyone else if they try again." Supergirl said firmly.

"True." Maxwell conceded. "But I went to see how much damage had done to my LTE network –they're rather expensive after all- and I found out that since we ended their mind control the Myriad wave has been amplified ten-fold and is rising exponentially."

"Amplified? To what end?" Eliza questioned in concerned.

"Emergency rooms all over the city have been filled with people complaining about headaches. They're from Myriad which, by my calculations, will continue to amplify until pop goes the cranium." Max joked grimly.

Supergirl stared at the man in horror. The man wasn't wearing his Myriad scrambler, which likely meant that it wouldn't work against this new threat, and that further implied they couldn't cure this with another inspiring speech. This problem wasn't psychological, it was physical.

"The Kryptonians couldn't control us; so instead, they're going to kill us. And this won't just affect people in National City either. This will kill off every human on Earth." Maxwell concluded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry was enjoying a short walk. Although running at the speed of sound was rather euphoric in its own right, there was something about seeing everyone at the same speed as him that was comforting. It reminded him that he was still human to just walk among the regular people, blissfully ignorant of the darker aspects of their world that they were protected from.

Though a lot of people didn't really look very blissful at the moment. Every few feet were people popping painkillers or grasping their heads, grimacing in pain. Barry could feel a slight drain from the Speed Force healing him, but chalked it up to residual effects of Myriad's mind control. He made a mental note to check by DEO later and see if there was anything he could help with. Maybe Barry Allen could try and whip up a device to help blocking Myriad's painful aftereffects.

Barry was so absorbed in his thoughts that he briefly forgot where exactly he was- namely in the middle of a busy sidewalk. His shoulder impacted someone else's rather hard and, with a shriek, the woman Barry had struck began to tumble into the street, directly into incoming traffic.

Every motion slowed as the Speed Force crackled through Barry's veins. He reached out and grabbed the woman, redistributing her momentum to pull her out of traffic and into his arms. The moment she was secure, he let go of her and let the Speed Force in his system recede.

The woman look frazzled at her near-accident, just as a car whizzed by where her head had been a second before. She blinked in confusion and looked around only to find everyone else going about their day without glancing at the two.

"Did…did that really just happen?" She asked, her face blank with shock at the near fatal accident.

Barry didn't answer right away, staring at her face with shock equal to the woman's own. Standing before him was a picture perfect copy of his friend, Caitlin Snow. Granted, she was dressed in a baggy pair of sweatpants and an unflattering hoodie rather than a dress, but the face was indistinguishable.

The Caitlin-lookalike shifted uncomfortably. "Are you okay?" She asked tentatively. Barry realized belatedly that this was the second time in several days that he had caught a girl off guard by staring intently like a creep at her.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine. I should be asking if you're okay though, I mean you just barely avoided getting….you know, splattered." Barry reverted back to his normal procedure when meeting new people, namely running his mouth without letting his brain catch up.

The woman gave him a small smile, a measure of hesitation in her eyes still. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit shaken. Did you see who it was that knocked me over?" Like a switch had been flipped, the nervous woman was suddenly intent.

Barry chuckled nervously and realized he couldn't take a step back without either knocking someone else into traffic or stepping into traffic himself. "Err, that was me, actually. Sorry about that…"

Not-Caitlin gave him a stink eye for a few moments, but finally sighed and looked around. "It's fine, I suppose, I didn't really get hurt," She conceded, sounding distracted. "Did you see who caught me? I felt someone yank me out…"

Now it was Barry's turn to be confused. Had he been so fast that she hadn't seen him catch her at all? He had barely tapped into the Speed Force at all to guarantee that he wouldn't generate electricity and accidently shock her, so he hadn't been _that_ fast.

"That was also me." Barry admitted. Not-Caitlin turned back to him and actually _look_ at him. Her disbelief did not vanish.

"But you're a stick." She said bluntly.

Barry gaped at the woman. "Wha-I'm not a stick! I mean sure I'm not huge, but I'm in shape, I totally could've pulled you out." He defended. He better be in shape, given that he ran more in an hour than most people would in a year.

Not-Caitlin crossed her arms and continued to look unconvinced. "Right. So you bumped into me and somehow managed to both grab me fast enough for me to not even hit pavement _and_ pull me back up, all while being off balance and caught off guard?"

"It's not about muscles or preparation, it's about physics." This was beginning to sound remarkably like one of his old debates with Becky Cooper, his old ex-girlfriend. "I was able to use your own momentum to swing you around like a pendulum, and it was only _because_ I was acting out of instinct rather than preparation that I was able to catch you at all."

Not-Caitlin narrowed her eyes, mulling the matter over in her head. "Well, considering that you knocked me into traffic, don't expect a thank you for pulling me out."

Great, so the Earth-2 version of Caitlin is a supervillain and the Earth-38 version is a jerk. Couldn't Barry run into at least one copy of his friends that was a decent person?

"Actually, given that my psychological state is at risk from a near-death accident, I believe you owe me." Not-Caitlin concluded, tapping her finger to her chin, an unidentifiable gleam in her eye.

"Wha-wait, what do you mean 'owe you'?" Barry asked warily. In his experience, owing someone something normally did not end well.

"Well, I believe a meal is in order. After all, proper nutrition will likely help me recover from such a traumatic experience." A wicked grin made its way onto Not-Caitlin's face. "Luckily for you, its lunchtime and I know a lovely little Chinese food restaurant near here."

Definitely-Not-Caitlin grabbed him by his wrist and began to drag him behind her with surprising strength.

"And I also believe you never properly introduced yourself." Definitely-Not-Caitlin's conversational tone was barely disguised as an order.

"Barry Allen, I'm actually new in town so I don't have a lot of money…" Actually he had none.

"Well then Barry Allen, looks like you won yourself a date with the much desired Pamela Isley. Trust me; it's an opportunity that many would gladly spend their last dollar on." Pamela said airily. Barry could not tell if she was simply teasing him or if he had somehow managed to fall into the clutches of an egomaniac version of one of his closest friends. Either way, it was time to get out of here.

Barry directed the Speed Force to his trapped hand and began to vibrate the atoms of his hand at the exact frequency of air. A moment later, Pamela's grip contracted around empty space and she turned around in outrage, only to be greeted by a strong gust of wind and the complete absence of Barry Allen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The Kryptonians were using Myriad for mind control because the frequency penetrates neural tissue." Max explained to the DEO agents. "Now they're increasing the frequency exponentially. We're talking terahertz jumps here, people. That's roughly similar to using an Uzi on a mosquito. We're actually lucky that it's only calibrated to humans, otherwise all our livestock on Earth would have died hours ago."

"And all the other animals as well." Supergirl added. The mental image of a child holding a dog and the dog's head exploding briefly filled her vision, but she pushed it down.

"Eh, the world could stand to lose a few cats. But the point is, once the wave reaches its full potential, the electromagnetic energy will create enough energy to…" Max winced, putting a hand to his own head, for once unable to speak.

"It will kill every human on Earth, just like you said." Supergirl finished. "I need to tell James and Winn." She also needed to check on Barry, see if Myriad still affected him, or if he was healing from the brain interference.

"Let's not get our cape in a bunch." Max said hurriedly, his face still tight with pain.

Lucy nodded, looking loathe agreeing with Maxwell Lord, but resigned. "He's right. Telling them would do them no good. It would only unnecessarily worry them." She seemed just as pained as Supergirl, given her own affection for James, but her determination was unwavering.

Alex closed her eyes and Supergirl caught slight signs of pain on her sister's face. "How much time do we have?" She ground out.

"Four hours." Max answered. "Normally I love a good countdown, but….this is bad. Really bad." He rubbed his face tiredly and Supergirl realized with a jolt that he had probably been awake even longer than her to get his hands on this data.

"Do you think you can find the source so we can shut it down?" Lucy proposed.

"You're lucky I work well under pressure." Max snapped back.

"Ma'ams," A DEO agent called over, expression pained but attentive. "You're needed in the armory."

Lucy nodded to Supergirl and Alex. "Find the source." She ordered Max. She began to walk to the armory, Alex close behind her.

"Finding them will be the easy part." Max said, eyes staunchly fixed on someplace other than on Supergirl. "Defeating them with only you, that's our problem."

Supergirl refused to look back at the man. With J'onn in holding by the DEO for his 'crimes' and Barry refusing to be the Flash, she truly was alone. "And here I thought you'd learned by now." Supergirl turned to Max to find him looking at her steadily. "I can handle anything."

"I'm not trying to be an ass. I know you can handle anything." Max said seriously. "But I'm actually worried, and if the others were thinking straight, they'd be worried too. You have no backup. Your sidekick J'onn J'onzz is injured, the DEO's resources have been depleted from the prison break, and even if your leather friend were around, which apparently he's not, no human would be able to go out there. Their heads would get too close if they got too close to the source."

Max took a step closer to her, forcing her to look into his eyes. His eyes should have been bloodshot and crazed, but instead they were calm and utterly, terribly sane. "If you go out there and fight, you might win. But chances are this is a suicide mission."

Supergirl took a step back from Maxwell Lord. "I will never stop trying if there's a chance to save people."

"Believe me; no one's rooting for you more than I am." Max promised. "I just want you to know what you're facing, so that you're prepared. You may be Supergirl, but you're also Kara Danvers, and both of them have people that care about them."

Supergirl stared defiantly back at Max, not showing how deep his words cut. "I will stop Non and Indigo." She vowed.

Max searched her eyes for a moment, and then nodded. "Good." He turned around and retreated to his computer, leaving Supergirl alone amid the bustling efficiency that was the DEO. At least he would have, had Supergirl not turned back to him.

"Don't tell Alex my odds, okay?" It could have been an order from a super powered alien demi-god, or it could have been a simple heartfelt request from a concerned sister. Either way, Max nodded solemnly. Supergirl nodded back, turned, and left, her cape fluttering behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara stepped out the elevator at CatCo feeling weighed down by more than just her exhaustion. Everyone was bustling around, slowly but surely getting acclimated to their post mind-control lives. Things were bright and cheery, and news reports were running stories of a large uptick of marriage proposals in National City thanks to people realizing how quickly things could go awry.

Among the hustle and bustle of ordinary life passing around her, Kara felt like she was already a ghost.

Walking into the office, Kara saw Winn taking a large gulp of water and downing a dangerous looking amount of pain medication, likely to fight off his own Myriad headache. The man sighed in relief as they kicked in and Kara did her best to walk past him unnoticed, but that did not seem to be on the agenda.

"Hey, you look like you could jump in on that lunch order." Winn jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the group of CatCo employees taking their break, talking and laughing as they waited for food. "They just called it in but we could…"

Kara mustered some semblance of positive emotion and waved him off. "No, it's fine. I've already had four lunches already." She continued marching to Ms. Grant's office, but Winn did not go off to his own station.

"Really? Because you have that little hypoglycemic I-haven't-eaten-in-25-minutes look." He chuckled slightly at his own joke, but it broke off when Kara didn't laugh. "Sorry. Here, have some licorice."

Winn pulled out a Red Vine from his ever present supply of candy, looking at her in concern. Kara stopped walking and took a moment to really look at her best friend. He had been by her side from the very beginning, even before knowing she had powers, and though that was likely because of his feelings for her, even though she had rejected him he had stayed and helped her, day after day.

Kara swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat and met Winn's eyes, knowing that this might be the last time she could ever speak to him. "I know I don't say this enough…." Kara began. A flash of guilt came over her as she realized that she had actually _never_ thanked him. "Or ever, really. Thank you, Winn."

Winn stared back at her with confusion, his offered snack hanging limply in his hands. "For what? You're the one that just saved everyone from a super mind-control ray."

Kara shook her head in frustration, mainly at herself. Words were really not her forte. "No, that's not what I mean. I just….thank you for always being such a great friend to me. From my first day at work here, my first day as Supergirl, your friendship has been one of the best parts of my life."

Despite herself, Kara's voice wavered, and a hint of raw emotion entered her voice. Winn grinned awkwardly at her and dropped his gaze. "Just…just eat a Red Vine, will you? You're getting a little sappy, even for me."

Kara wanted to say more, but at that moment Ms. Grant's voice cut through the office. "Ker-rah!" her boss called.

Winn sighed. "Go tame the beast. We'll talk about this later." Kara nodded, and the two went their separate ways without looking each other in the eyes again.

"Ker-rah, go get me one of those Moon Juice smoothies with the Chinese herbs that Gwyneth keeps talking about." Ms. Grant ordered without looking up from her work. "I want one every two hours."

Kara stared at her boss in confusion as she set Ms. Grant's lunch on her table. "But you hate Chinese herbs. And Gwyneth. "

Ms. Grant glanced up with a mildly affronted look. "Not true. I don't like the Coldplay guy, but ever since they consciously uncoupled, I like Gwynny more than ever."

Ms. Grant pushed aside her work and gave Kara a piercing gaze. "You see, Ker-rah, we have been through hell in the last few days. But we survived, the lesson being to not to take life for granted, always take good care of yourself, reject the latte and drink the green juice, carpe diem and all that." She finished dismissively, returning to her work.

Kara nodded and turned away, knowing that Ms. Grant would offer no more information…but it was far more than she would have offered just a few months ago. Cat Grant had said that Supergirl had inspired her to become more invested in Kara, but it had been Cat Grant that had inspired Kara to continue doing the things that she did as Supergirl, just as much as her own mother and Clark.

She couldn't leave things like this, couldn't let things go unspoken if she were to disappear tomorrow, never to return.

"Ms. Grant?" Kara asked tentatively. Ms. Grant grunted in response, showing she was paying a modicum of attention. Unrelenting, Kara bulldozed ahead.

"I just wanted you to know that working for you is a true honor. You are my role model, and you lead this city with such strength and grace, and underneath that prickly exterior you have the biggest heart of anyone I know."

Ms. Grant continued typing at her laptop, seemingly unhearing what Kara was saying, but Kara could tell that she was listening.

Kara took a deep breath. "I'm just trying to say thank you for being an amazing mentor and friend."

Ms. Grant glanced up and took off her glasses, giving Kara her full attention. "Alright, that was either my eulogy or your dictated suicide note. Is there something you need to tell me?"

Kara shook her head and gave Ms. Grant a small smile. "No, I'm just taking your advice. Carpe diem."

Ms. Grant narrowed her eyes suspiciously but shrugged nevertheless. "Alright…well, you've made quite an impression on me too, Ker-rah." She but back on her glasses and returned to her work. "Now, go fetch me that juice. Chop-chop."

Kara forced a smile and walked out of her office, making a mental note to get a Moon Juice for her boss. But before she did that, there was one last person she had to visit…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James was examining photographs when Kara entered his office.

"Hey, James." She said without preamble. He glanced up at her and a grin grew on his face.

"Hey." He responded. "I was just thinking about you."

Kara crossed her arms and met his gaze steadily, trying not to show any of the anxiety or fear she was feeling. "You were?"

"I was thinking we should finish that conversation that we started earlier that was interrupted." He walked closer to her, his smile dimming slightly as he took in her expression.

"It does seem like we're always getting interrupted, doesn't it?" Kara echoed blandly. James chuckled at the observation. Kara did not.

"Maybe there's a reason." Kara's voice wavered and concern flickered in James's eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Kara tried to force herself to keep looking at him, but found that she couldn't. "Maybe it means that you and I just aren't meant to be."

All semblance of relaxation or pleasant awkwardness died in James's face. He crossed his arms, mirroring her. "That's a pretty big leap, Kara."

"James, I know what's in my heart." Kara said shortly. "And I know we could have been happy together, but we missed our chance. So now the most important thing is that you find your own happiness, separate from me. Find someone who appreciates how amazing you are."

Kara turned to leave, but James moved to block her, confusion and frustration clear in his expression. "Kara, why are you saying this? Is this about….Barry?"

Kara almost laughed hollowly, which would have been very bad, but managed not to. With the news of her own suicide mission coming up she had forgotten all about James's jealously, as well as her own embarrassing incident with Barry Allen.

Maybe if she had more time she would have been able to figure out what to do about her attraction to Barry, to see how things would turn out with James, but at the moment none of it seemed to matter.

"It has nothing to do with Barry. I just…care about you a lot, James Olson. Always remember that."

Kara had to leave. If she stayed any longer she would tell him, and if she told him she wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done. She turned to leave, but James laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. A few days ago that would have set her heart racing, but now it just made the pit in her chest grow deeper.

"Kara, please." James pleaded. Kara gently removed his hand and pushed the door open before James could stop her again.

"Good-bye, James."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After escaping the clutches of Pamela Isley, Barry had decided going on a run might clear his head. National City was beautiful even when it was whipping by at high speeds, and Flash wondered idly what it was like to see it from above. Maybe he could ask Kara to take him flying at some point…

Ah, speak of the devil. A small figure faster than any plane whizzed by just below the clouds, and Flash grinned as he activated the tachyon device on his chest, flooding himself with the Speed Force. Supergirl seemed to slow down considerably, and Flash raced ahead to the entrance of the DEO, slowing down to meet her outside.

Supergirl did not look good, and Barry recognized in the back of his mind that she looked remarkably similar to someone who had just been sentenced to death row. She barely spared him a glance as she marched inside the secret headquarters.

"Supergirl, you okay?" Barry asked in concern. Supergirl nodded and kept her eyes fixed on the hallway as they marched deep into headquarters, not speaking.

A sick feeling began to form in the pit of his stomach. He recognized her behavior. He had acted just like her when he had been planning to go back in time and save his mother. Given that she was as fast as he was now…

"You're not planning on time-travelling, are you?" Barry asked, debating on whether or not laying a hand on her shoulder would accidently get his arm broken. The question seemed to briefly shake Supergirl out of her funk and she shot him a bewildered look.

"What? No, time travelling wouldn't solve any of my problems right now." She responded more or less automatically, her mind clearly somewhere else.

"Okay, then why do you look like you're about to make a terrible decision?"

Supergirl completely stopped walking and turned towards him, her resigned expression becoming furious.

"I am making the exact right decision, Barry." She hissed. "I am doing the right thing here, even if it's painful, because that is my duty."

The sick feeling grew into a veritable black hole inside him. "Kara, what are you going to do?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't like to hear the answer.

Kara ran a hand through her hair and looked like she were about to laugh hysterically. "Well, it looks like I'm going to be following one of the greatest traditions of Earth's heroes, and die for my cause."

…..What?

What?

"What?" Barry whispered incredulously.

Kara looked like she wanted to do nothing more than sink to the floor and pull her knees up to her chest, but instead she gave him a clear, hard look of determination. "Non is amplifying Myriad's waves to affect everyone on Earth. If I don't stop him, everyone is going to die."

That was why the drain on Barry had been increasing throughout the day, the Speed Force requiring more and more power to heal Myraid's effects, but not everyone was so lucky. In fact, it appeared to be only him and Supergirl that would be safe.

"Why does that mean you're going to die?" Barry demanded.

"Because Non has just as much experience with his powers as me, and is as ruthless as a wannabe-despot can be, along with having an insane, indestructible supercomputer on his side. That's not something even I can face alone."

A touch of anger filled the pit in Barry's chest. "Do you really think I'd let you go to fight them alone? Kara, I said I didn't want to be the Flash here, but I can still help you if you need me!"

Even before he'd finished speaking Kara was shaking her head. "The closer humans get to the source of Myriad the more they feel it's effects .Even with your healing you wouldn't be able to get within a couple miles before your head exploded."

Now Barry felt like sitting on the floor and pulling his knees up to his chest. This was just like how his mother had died, how Eddie had died, how Ronnie had died. Because he hadn't been able to do anything to help them, even if he was now the fastest man alive.

Wait a moment….Kara said something about having a cousin who apparently had all her powers as well. What was his name….

"Superman!" Barry burst out. "What about him, now that Myriad's not controlling anyone he can help you right?" The pit seemed to shrink in his chest as he considered it. Yes, together Supergirl and Superman could watch each other's backs and neither would die.

"Superman is still unconscious, and by the time he's up it will be too late." Kara said hollowly. She had the defeated look of someone who had already explored any other options.

"Aren't there any other aliens that can go with you and help you?" Barry asked desperately. Hell, there was probably even a DEO prisoner that would help! If the agents died no one could come and feed them, leaving all the prisoners to waste away.

Kara gave a weak chuckle. "As a matter of fact, there is. Unfortunately, Major Lane still considers him a criminal, and won't let him go. I have no doubt he could escape if he wanted to, but it would mean fighting his way through the whole of the DEO, and he would never do that."

The floor seemed to sway underneath Barry's feet. Four days and he was already losing someone.

Kara patted him on the shoulder and Barry did his best to suppress a wince of pain. "Come on, you might as well meet him. I was coming to visit anyway."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara walked into one of the DEO's repaired labs, staunchly ignoring her cousin's unconscious body nearby, and found J'onn awake and alert, though he was still chained to his metal cot via power-suppressing cuffs.

"I hate seeing you like this." Supergirl said by way of greeting. J'onn snorted.

"I'm not concerned about the shackles. I am concerned about you…and also the man in red leather you've brought to see me." J'onn replied sardonically.

Barry stuck out a hand and the two shook. "I'm Barry Allen. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, sir."

J'onn gave a grim look that may have passed for a smile. "Likewise, Mr. Allen. My name is J'onn J'onzz, though you may call me Hank if you wish. I assume you are the young man who caught Kara Danvers a few days ago?"

Barry nodded. "They call me the Flash."

"And here I thought that they couldn't come up with anything more ridiculous than _Supergirl_."

Despite herself, Kara chuckled. Who would have thought that somber military brass and alien in disguise would get along with a wise-cracking adorkable CSI? Unfortunately, the noise brought J'onn's attention back to her, and his face hardened.

"James Olsen called Lucy to tell her you've been acting strange, like today was your last day on Earth." J'onn informed her.

Kara felt a flash of guilt, which was quickly becoming normal for her today. "I didn't mean to worry him. But…We both know what I'm up against."

Hank nodded in understanding. He had fought against Superman once, and clearly felt no desire to fight another Kryptonian under any circumstances.

"I will save the Earth, I promise. I just can't promise that I'll make it out alive, so I needed to say goodbye." Kara explained. "I didn't say the things I should've when I left Krypton and I didn't want to make the same mistake now. Just in case."

Barry suddenly paled, and Kara almost made a mental note to ask him why later, only to remember that there might not _be_ a later.

"I was exactly where you are, Kara." J'onn reminded her. "And when I was, you told me to never give up."

"I'm not giving up." Kara defended. "But my mother didn't send me to Earth to fall in love with a human, have children, live in a house with a white picket fence."

"It sounds like that might be what you want though." Barry brought up hesitantly. "What all heroes want."

Kara let a hysterical laugh bubble up and she spread her arms mockingly. "Well, it looks like that's not how things are going to work out, is it? I was sent here to protect my cousin, and I'm going to do this so that he and the rest of Earth can have that sort of life."

Barry didn't argue against her. He didn't propose any new ideas. He just nodded back at her, and there was a look of understanding on his face. "So if you die achieving that…"

"Then I'm at peace with that." Kara said firmly. "I'll join my mother and father in Rao's light."

J'onn bowed his head, but couldn't hide an expression of torment. Kara pulled him into her arms and held the older alien for a moment, then kissed him on the forehead and backed up, turning around and leaving without a single look back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you have, Max?" Supergirl requested, an unmistakable ring of authority in her voice. Barry actually felt slightly awkward at the way people seemed to snap to attention as she walked by, knowing he didn't command that same level of respect back on his home world. Granted, Cisco would probably gladly salute him if it occurred to him…

"Found 'em!" Maxwell Lord announced. "Thanks to this pretty little thing." Max patted the side of his computer with a disturbing amount of affection, and then pointed a blueprint that was covering multiple screens.

"That's an Omegahedron." Supergirl said in amazement, walking past a bald man in military camouflage to stare at the computer. "We used these as energy sources on Krypton. Just one of those can power a city."

Barry read through all of the information available at super speed, almost overloading his mind. It was far more complex than anything even STAR Labs could produce, probably several hundred years more advanced. And these were commonplace back on her planet? He would have to visit sometime.

"Well this one's powering the destruction of this entire planet." Max remarked. "It's powering the Myriad wave, and its energy is building by the second."

"As fascinating as that is, where exactly are the Kryptonians hiding?" Alex cut in. Barry could tell even from several feet away that she was in intense pain, but was hiding it well.

"About 500 miles northeast of here. Nevada." One of the DEO agents reported.

"What the hell is in Nevada?" Supergirl asked, a tinge of frustration in her voice.

"Mostly mediocre buffets, strippers, and regret." Max quipped. Everyone shot him a disapproving look and he rolled his eyes. "Everyone's a critic…" he muttered.

"It's Fort Rozz." The bald military man said, turning to Supergirl. Barry got the feeling that was something important, but was not something he recognized from his Earth.

"What, you just left it there?" Supergirl questioned, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

The military man gave her a flat look. "You try moving a one million-ton alien prison the size of a small city."

In Supergirl's defense, she probably could.

"We did the only thing we could." The man continued. "We concealed it using its own stealth technology, cordoned off the area and called it a nuclear test zone."

Barry snapped his fingers. "So, you guys _do_ have your own version of Area 52. I've been searching for one back on my Earth, but no such luck."

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about him, and all turned as one to shoot him a glance. Barry coughed. Without Cisco here to make jokes, he had fallen into the habit.

"Who is the man in the red leather footsie pajamas?" The general asked severely, eyeing Barry as if he were a bomb just ready to go off.

Supergirl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We do not have time to get into this again….he's Barry Allen, he's from another Earth, he can run really fast and no, he can't help us."

Alex gave her sister a hard look. "You can't go in there without back-up."

"Nor will she." J'onn J'onzz's voice cut in. He walked over to the group, still with one power-restricting cuff on, but looking determined.

"You're still under arrest." The general said, his frown becoming all the more pronounced.

"And you're still hurt." Alex added, her tone marginally softer.

"There are too many lives at risk to send an agent in alone." J'onn said firmly.

"Be that as it may, I'm not releasing you." The general maintained. "You're a threat to national security."

"And you're dead if you don't allow me on this mission." J'onn shot back. "And that's not a threat, that is the truth. Without me, Supergirl will not be able to stop Myriad."

"She's going to need all the help she can get." Max added. He shot Barry a look out of the corner of his eyes and mouthed something that Barry couldn't catch.

Lucy looked conflicted as the deliberated the two sides, but ultimately the obvious choice won out. "Release him." She ordered her men. "Now."

The general's mouth firmed in disapproval, but he didn't challenge her. "Take the other cuff off the Martian." He agreed reluctantly. Max mouthed the same word to Barry again.

"I got it." J'onn almost grinned. He reached up and pulled the cuff of as if it were wet toilet paper, allowing the remains to fall to the ground in multiple pieces. Max mouthed the same word, and something clicked. Lightning.

"Hey, how far did you say that humans can get to the source without dying?" Barry said in a conversational tone. Everyone turned to him again, and a DEO agent quickly answered him.

"About five miles, give or take."

Barry turned his grin to J'onn and Supergirl, pulling up his cowl to cover his face. "Kryptonians are pretty vulnerable to electricity, right?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl hurtled over the Earth towards Nevada, contemplating what very well might have been her last words to her sister. She hadn't said "good-bye." She hadn't said "I love you". She had given her sister her necklace that she had brought from Krypton, requesting her to keep it safe. It was all she could do. If she had said goodbye' she would never be able to leave.

The Martian Manhunter landed right beside her as soon as they spotted the enormous hulking metal structure that was Fort Rozz. She had never seen it properly, and at the moment it actually looked sort of sad, like a half-destroyed amateur sculpting project. Despite that, she could feel the waves from Myriad as it washed through her, unaffected.

"So, how do we smoke them out?" Supergirl asked Manhunter, mentally preparing herself for the fight ahead. Even with Martian Manhunter and Flash on her side, this was not going to be easy.

" **I think we just did."** Manhunter responded grimly.

Non and Indigo sped out of Fort Rozz and landed a scant few feet from them, looking utterly unconcerned by their presence. They were the only ones to come out.

"Where's your army?" Supergirl asked wearily, trying to scan the surroundings for any hidden enemies.

"Already in their sleeping pods." Non replied stoically. "Ready for their journey to commence once we dispose of you two."

"And the Omegahedron?" If they could destroy that, it was all over.

Non smirked. "It's right here." He held up the complex metal orb for her to see casually. "Take it." He tossed it to her, but she allowed it to roll to a stop at her feet, not sure if it was a trap of some sort.

"Smash it into little bits, you still won't stop us." Non continued. "It's just a means to an end. Myriad's real power comes from her." Non turned and pointed to Fort Rozz, a smug smirk on his face.

"Can't smash that to little bits, huh?" Indigo asked mockingly.

If all of Fort Rozz was powering Myriad, there would be no way to destroy it in time. Time for Plan B then.

"This is not what Astra wanted." Supergirl pleaded. "Please, don't kill everyone."

The smugness disappeared from Non's face to be replaced with rage. "Your aunt wanted to save this planet. The humans' extinction will do just that."

"Like Noah after the flood." Indigo added. "Only without Noah. Or you." Her piece said, Indigo leapt towards Supergirl, only to catch a blast of heat vison right to the midsection. Supergirl gladly would've kept it up until Indigo was dead, but caught Non's fist directly to her face, sending her exploding back.

" _You have less than six minutes Supergirl, you need to make them count."_ General Lane reported in her ear, a rare touch of panic in his voice.

Supergirl grunted in response as Manhunter hurled Non into the air, taking off to tackle him in mid-air, punching him with all her strength. Non punched back, and sent Supergirl slamming through a nearby hill.

The next minute was an airborn battle of deadly blows, with Supergirl only barely managing to stay on top of him. Non had much more experience with both regular fighting and fighting with his powers. Luckily, they had a secret weapon.

" _Five minutes…"_ another DEO agent reported, clear pain coming over the radio. The moment of distraction cost her dearly, and Supergirl caught a pile driver to the stomach, slamming into the ground.

"Tell your parents I said hello." Non rasped.

Supergirl grit her teeth. "Now Barry!" She yelled.

For a moment nothing happened, and Non began to stalk towards her with bloody murder blazing in his eyes, though thankfully not in the form of heat vision.

Then, there was a clap of thunder, and a bolt of lightning slammed into Non with all the force that Barry had built up running around the area at a five mile radius. Her uncle's body locked up as his skin actually began to char, and despite his best efforts a scream of pain ripped itself from his jaw.

Supergirl was upon him in an instant, knowing she had to end things now. All of her solar energy rushed to her eyes, and her heat vision immediately cut through Non's arms, shearing the limbs off his body. Non gurgled as he passed out from the pain, but Supergirl punched him once more for good measure.

Heaving a sigh, Supergirl threw her uncle's unconscious body over her shoulder and looked around. Manhunter was panting heavily over the ripped in half remains of Indigo's body.

"We won!" Supergirl announced, both to Manhunter and to the DEO through her coms. "But we still need to shut down Myriad."

A sudden huff of breath brought her attention down to Indigo's body, which was still twitching. "It can't be shut down, fools. I already locked the system. The engines won't fire, you won't be able to fly Fort Rozz away."

" _How is she still alive?"_ Barry demanded over the coms. Neither of them had an answer, as they could only stare at Indigo's still moving body with horror.

"All you'll be able to do is sit back and watch everyone around you die." Indigo continued. "But between Krypton and Mars, I guess that's old hat for you two." Indigo bared her teeth at them mockingly, even as the jewels on her forehead lost their glow and she flopped to the ground, dead as a doornail.

Supergirl didn't hesitate in the least before dropping her uncle's unconscious body and rushing to Fort Rozz as fast as she could, ignoring the countless pods of prisoners in stasis to get to the control room. What she found there wasn't good.

"I need to get Agent Danvers on the line." Supergirl demanded. The DEO agent on the other end of the coms scrambled to find her, then Alex's voice came over the coms.

" _Supergirl, what's wrong?"_

"The Myriad signal is still escalating." Supergirl reported. "We defeated Non and Indigo, but we can't stop the Myriad wave and we can't power the ship."

Supergirl hesitated slightly. This was the tricky part. "I'm going to fly Fort Rozz into space myself, it's the only way we can get Myriad off the planet."

Alex's response came immediately. _"That is not an option, Kara. Once you're in space, there's no atmosphere. There's no gravity. You wouldn't be able to generate thrust, you wouldn't be able to breathe…you wouldn't be able to get back!"_

Kara knew all of that. Her powers would not work in empty space, and there was no nearby spacecraft that would be able to knock her back to Earth. "There's no other way."

" _No,"_ Alex denied. " _I can have Max…"_

"No, there's no time-"

" _Kara, listen to me."_ Alex demanded. Kara shook her head slowly, despite knowing that her sister couldn't see her.

"I was sent to protect Earth, and that's what I'm going to do." Kara said firmly.

There was silence over the line, and Kara was suddenly aware that all of the DEO, as well as J'onn and Barry, could hear this conversation.

"I need you to promise me something." Kara requested. "I need you to promise me that when you find Jeremiah, you'll tell him that I never stopped wearing the glasses. He needs to know that you and Eliza gave me a great life, a life I never thought I'd be able to find outside of Krypton. He needs to know that everything good I did, it came from you being my sister."

" _You taught me, Kara."_ Alex insisted.

"I want you to have a good life." Kara continued. "I want you to find love and be happy. I want you to do all of those things that being my sister kept you from doing, because you had to protect me."

Kara could hear her sister begin to tear up, and could feel hot prickles of liquid in her own eyes. "Promise me." She insisted.

" _I can't."_ Alex sobbed.

"I need you to promise me, Alex, there isn't much time." Kara tried to force all the power she could into her voice, but couldn't keep it from quivering.

"… _I promise."_ Alex vowed shakily.

Kara nodded and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Good. Okay. I have to go."

" _I love you, Kara."_

"I love you too." Kara bit her lip and turned away from the Myriad control device, taking off down the hallways.

" _Kara?"_

Kara tuned out her sister's voice as she flew around to the very bottom of Fort Rozz. She placed her hands on the cold metal and began to push upwards with all her strength. It was by far the heaviest thing she had ever tried to lift, so heavy that she actually felt the strain for once. More than that, it was like what a normal human would feel trying to lift a fully loaded cargo van.

Nevertheless, she persisted, and the ship slowly began to move upwards, inch by inch. It became even harder to lift as she got it off the ground, and her arms trembled with exertion. In mere seconds but what might have been eternities, Fort Rozz broke above the clouds and she, along with Fort Rozz, shot past the atmosphere.

Kara could feel every shift in weight from inside Fort Rozz as she continued shoving it into the sky, so she could feel multiple objects becoming dislodged and flying down to Earth. She grit her teeth. It was taking all of her concentration just to continue lifting Fort Rozz, so there was no way she could alert anyone at the DEO to retrieve them. She just hoped someone would have the foresight to do so.

Fort Rozz began to reduce in weight as gravity lost its hold on both her and the enormous structure. She had never been in space before, and she began to feel a chill seep into her bones, even as the oxygen expelled itself from her lungs.

Kara floated effortlessly through the vast expanse of space, her lungs and her brain cells screaming at her to get more air. With the last bit of her strength, she pushed herself off of Fort Rozz to turn and look at the planet she was dying to protect.

It was beautiful in a way that not even Krypton had managed to be. Krypton had long ago been covered with metal and stone, whereas Earth was a vast expanse of blue and green, a perfect orb teeming with billions of lives. It was such a waste she couldn't stick around to see how things turned out…

Kara's eyes drifted shut and she submitted herself to the light of Rao, allowing her last image of Earth to become fixed in her mind as she took her last breath.

The curious thing was, she could have sworn she saw a familiar glint on the horizon….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry paced back and forth in the infirmary as he waited for Kara to wake up. Alex had only brought her back a few minutes ago, but Barry was already running out of patience. He had no idea how Caitlin, Iris and Cisco had been able to wait _nine months_ for him to wake up, he was already ready to tear his own hair out.

"Barry, calm down." Alex snapped. "She's going to be fine. She only spent a minute or two in open space, and that's survivable even for humans."

Barry took a deep breath and stopped pacing fast enough to generate electricity, letting the Speed Force in his system die down to a low hum. The two waited, listening to Kara's EKG ping steadily.

"So, how long did you and my sister know each other?" Alex asked, her tone almost forcefully casual. Barry got an odd feeling of danger for some reason.

"Well, we've only known each other for a short while, a couple of days actually." Barry admitted.

"Really? You two seem like you're pretty close." The odd feeling of danger continued to rise in Barry and he took a measured step away from Alex Danvers.

"Err, yeah. Kara and I have pretty similar backgrounds, so we just kind of…"

_Barry looked down at Kara with his heart hammering. He recognized this feeling; he had felt it for so long being around Iris and later being with Patty. He had just forced himself to be distracted with Livewire and Silver Banshee, but in that moment he knew that there was a clear attraction between them._

_But he couldn't act. He had always had something of a chance, no matter how slim, with the other women in his life. Kara was…out of his league, an alien, and they lived in separate universes to boot._

_Almost against his will, Barry took another step forward, bridging the small distance that covered them. If he was never going to see her again…_

"…clicked." Barry finished, a faint coloring in his cheeks that he hoped Alex wouldn't notice. Alex gave him a suspicious look but turned back to watching her sister. Barry crossed his arms and watched Kara's breath even out.

Suddenly, her EKG hiked up, and Kara's eyes fluttered open. She turned her head in confusion and slowly sat up, groaning in discomfort.

"What happened?" She asked softly, turning to her sister.

Alex gave her sister a smile that didn't disguise the worry in her eyes. "You saved the world. And then I saved you with your pod." Alex's smile grew slightly. "You're not the only badass in the family."

Both of them laughed and Barry did his best to become invisible, feeling like he was intruding on a private family moment, though he noted with irritation that his heart rate still picked up when he heard Kara's laugh. He had hoped that both of them risking death would help him manage his attraction, but no dice.

Alex reached behind her neck and unhooked a chain hanging around her neck. "This belongs to you." She handed a silver chain with the Supergirl symbol over to her sister. "I think your mother would've really appreciated my piloting skills."

The two sisters shared a quiet moment while Barry mentally ran the alphabet back and forth in his head a few times, trying to not intrude.

"There are a lot of people out there waiting to say thank you." Alex said finally. Kara grinned at her sister and swung her legs over her medical cot, finally catching sight of Barry. She smiled almost involuntarily at him and he waved awkwardly at her.

"Sorry I wasn't much help. I couldn't get close enough to Fort Rozz without, you know, dying." Barry apologized. Kara walked over to him and punched him lightly in the arm, not even hard enough to make him wince.

"Not like you would have made much of a difference, anyway." She said teasingly. "I daresay even I might be more muscular than you, even without powers."

A grin grew on Barry's face, even as he groaned. "Why is everyone going after the arms today?" He complained. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Alex giving him a smirk. "Besides, I believe you have an adoring crowd to go see." He gestured to the door with flourish.

Kara turned to her sister and smiled. "It wouldn't be right to only celebrate one hero today. You both are walking in with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There really was an adoring crowd waiting for them in the lobby of the DEO. Well, for Alex and Kara at least, with J'onn hugging Alex and Lucy hugging Kara. Barry just kind of stood around awkwardly as the various DEO agents applauded.

"Ten-hut!" A soldier announced. General Lane rounded the corner and marched up to Supergirl and J'onn as the applause broke off. General Lane looked oddly pleased, but none of his men looked ready to fire, so that was good.

"I've spoken with the president." General Lane announced. "She's indebted to you, Supergirl. As am I" Supergirl had to stop herself from gaping. General Lane actually sounded genuinely thankful.

"She's also aware of the remarkable courage you demonstrated, J'onn J'onzz." General Lane nodded in the Martian's direction, an oddly courteous gesture. "She's granting you a full pardon and reinstating you as director of the DEO."

Lucy shot her father a betrayed look that he returned without blinking.

"In my absence, Major Lane has performed her duty as director with expertise and integrity. And if there's one thing I've learned in my many, many years, it's that leaders are stronger working together." Everyone began to stand straighter as it became clear the new leader was giving a speech.

"From now on, we're on the same team, no more secrets. Secrets protect no one. They only undermine what we're striving to accomplish: peace. And though we defeated Non and Myriad, evil still persists, and there are always more dangers that we face. Our enemies remain at home, abroad and in the skies beyond our world."

J'onn offered his hand to Lucy and gave his closest approximation of a smile. Lucy's smile was much brighter, but no less sincere. She shook his hand, and the DEO broke out in a fresh wave of applause.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara bit into her burrito and nearly moaned in satisfaction. She had genuinely never thought that she would eat ever again, and at the moment couldn't imagine giving up food for anything. However, she had to put her precious down for a moment to return to her computer.

Ping!

She pulled up her online chat box and saw a familiar name on the screen.

_My hero -Clark_

_Clark! OMG! How are you feeling? –Kara_

Clark's response came back more or less instantly, a clear sign that he was using super speed to type, something Kara never got behind.

_Ooof. Is this what a hangover feels like? –Clark_

Kara smirked. Neither of them had ever gotten intoxicated in their lives, so she had never felt what a hangover was like, but she didn't envy her cousin.

_You're asking the wrong girl. –Kara_

_Clearly you're made of much stronger stuff. –Clark_

_Only just figured that out? –Kara_

_Seriously. You saved the world, Kara. I couldn't be prouder. –Clark_

Kara smiled and was about to reply when an object was suddenly slammed onto her desk. Kara jumped and turned around to find Cat Grant standing above her desk with a banker's box.

"What's this?" Kara asked curiously.

"A banker's box." Ms. Grant answered, once again answering a rhetorical question as literal. "Typically used to carry one's meager possessions as they're being escorted to the elevator in disgrace. Or by force, if necessary."

Ms. Grant began packing Kara's possession in the box.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked in disbelief.

"Helping you pack." Ms. Grant replied breezily. Kara could only watch, open mouthed, as all of her years working at CatCo were packed into one box, which Ms. Grant hefted and began to bring to the elevator, with Kara following behind, utterly confused.

Had her speech earlier made Ms. Grant think Kara was crazy? Had she figured out Kara was Supergirl _again_ and decided that Kara would be put to better use as Supergirl all the time? Whatever it was, she needed to correct this.

"Ms. Grant, whatever I did, I can explain…" Kara's sentence trailed off as Ms. Grant took a sharp turn, past the elevators and down a barely used hallway. At the end was a lone door, which she pushed open to reveal an empty, clean office.

"What is this?" Kara asked for the second time. Ms. Grant set the box down and turned around.

"This is your new office."

Of all the things Kara had expected her boss to say, that was not one of them. "You're not firing me?"

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not firing you, I'm promoting you. Ker-rah, for the last two years you have done nothing but arrange my travels perfectly, manage my schedule flawlessly and cater to my every whim, making you easily the best assistant I have ever had. And that is why I have to give you up."

That was certainly gratifying after two years, but it didn't really explain what the office was for. Maybe she was being promoted to executive secretary? "What am I…What do you want me to do?"

"Well, I want you to find me a new assistant, for starters. Then I want you to take a few days, I want you to think about what you want, and then I'll think about what you might have to offer, and then we'll talk."

For a moment, Kara could have really sympathized with Barry, because it felt like she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. "Really? Anything I want?"

"Well, within reason." Ms. Grant quickly stipulated. "And the money won't be much different, or any different, actually, but this is a step up for you, Ker-rah." A faint smile came to Ms. Grant's face. Not a smirk, not a sneer, but a _smile_. "This is your end of _Working Girl_ moment, and if you take advantage of it, I really believe that you can change the world."

Ms. Grant inclined her head to Kara and turned to leave.

Kara suddenly felt a swelling of emotion in her chest. "Ms. Grant." She called. Her boss turned around and raised an eyebrow. Kara hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. Thank you? You're a great boss? I'm Supergirl?

"The end of _Working Girl_ always makes me cry." Kara admitted.

Cat Grant nodded, and looked like she wasn't sure whether to smile or not. "Me too." Ms. Grant took a deep breath and switched back into 'business mode'. "If you work hard there might be a window in your future…Kara."

Kara had lifted a million ton space ship, come closer to death than she had ever before, basically said her last words to everyone she held near and dear, yet being called her real name by her boss was quite possibly the most shocking thing she had experienced today.

Ms. Grant turned and left, leaving Kara alone in her new office. Kara picked up an item out of her bankers box and set it on her desk, then moved it over. Then again. Then again.

Kara let a smile . This was going to take some getting used to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't really been around large groups of people socializing since…well, ever. Everyone at STAR Labs was like a family, so it always had a different feel than the high school parties that he had never seemed to get invited to. What was worse was that this group clearly _was_ like STAR Labs, he just wasn't a part of it.

"I can't ever remember, forks on the right, knives on the left?" Alex questioned, setting out silverware at the table in Kara's apartment.

"No, forks on the left, knives on the right." Kara corrected. "It's the way we eat, how do you not know that?"

"I…I eat with my fork in my right hand." Alex defended shoddily.

"That's because you were raised by wolves." Eliza teased.

"Seven, eight, nine…. Guys, there's one extra plate here." Winn counted in confusion.

"Leave that there." Eliza requested quietly, a small smile on her face. "It's for Jeremiah. For when he comes back."

"He will, Mom. I give you my word. We're going to find Project Cadmus and bring him home." Alex promised.

"Together." Hank added, walking over and putting over the appetizer on the table. It was slightly odd seeing the muscular head of the DEO wearing an apron, but Barry wasn't nearly foolish enough to say that out loud. Wait, he was a Martian. Could he read his thoughts?

Barry swirled his wine in his glass as he leaned against the bookcase, just looking at everyone, a small smile on his face. It was difficult being the odd man out, but Kara had a good group of friends that would have her back.

"Hey, Kara, can I borrow you for a second?" James asked, his eyes solely focused on Kara. That was a relief. It kept him from shooting glares at Barry all night. Kara's eyes brightened and she followed him, but for a moment she seemed to hesitate, but then continued behind the separation.

Barry felt an ugly feeling rise up in him, knowing that whatever was going on behind the separation, it was sure to be intimate. But he took a deep breath and downed his wine, despite knowing it would fail to do anything. James Olson seemed to be a good man who clearly liked her, and she clearly liked him. The two had a lot of history between them.

Barry tried to get the ugly feeling to recede. Whatever had been between Kara and Barry, it was not something that could happen. Especially not with James and Kara's feelings for each other, and that didn't seem likely to change.

"Hey, Barry, you okay?" Winn asked. Barry realized that he was gripping his wine glass tightly and made a conscious effort to calm down. He pushed down the jealously and the attraction, locking it away. He would deal with both later. Kara was a good friend, and he would be fine if that's all they would ever be. It would just…take a while to convince himself of that.

"Yeah, Winn. I'm good." Barry smiled at the other man. "Just concerned that you apparently saw no way to take advantage of a guy with super speed when setting up."

Winn slapped him on the back good naturedly. "Kara doesn't really believe in using her powers to set stuff up. Well, except for one thing…" He trailed off as he held up a champagne bottle and wagged his eyebrows at the other Danvers women.

"Hey, that's a great idea." Alex grinned. "Kara, come do the champagne trick!" She called over the separation. Barry heard the rushed sounds of two people separating and took a deep breath, letting the Speed Force drown out his annoying emotions for a brief moment.

Kara and James both re-appeared with similar goofy grins on their faces. Despite his best efforts, Barry felt slightly relived that there was no way they had enough time to really get into anything.

"It's so cool." Alex grinned at Barry, pulling him over as Winn followed, handing the champagne bottle off to Kara. She took the bottle in one hand and everyone began to chant.

"Three…two…one!"

Kara squeezed the bottle and the cork flew out, Barry jumping back in surprise while everyone else laughed and cheered. James took the bottle and began to pour everyone a glass, handing them off one by one. When he handed Barry his glass, his face was perfectly neutral. No jealously. No smugness.

"Welcome to the team, Barry." He said simply. Barry gave the man a grin, and found to his surprise that it was around 80% honest.

"Let's have a toast!" Winn declared excitedly, holding up his glass.

J'onn nodded and raised his glass. "To Supergirl." He said. Everyone began to raise their glasses as well, but Kara cut them off.

"No, wait. To family, old and new. Love bonds us all."

Everyone grinned. "To family!" They chorused, clinking their glasses. Barry briefly made eye contact with Kara as he raised his glass to his lips and gave her a grin. She smiled back, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks as Winn threw an arm around Barry's shoulders and Alex clinked her glass against his.

In that moment, Barry felt like he was part of a family again, like how STAR Labs felt before the betrayal of Eobard Thawne and Jay Garrick. This world was a good one, and it didn't need him to be the Flash. He could be a part of this group, this family.

Barry downed his own champagne and, in an instant, re-filled everyone's glasses. There was a chorus of surprised sounds and then laughter as everyone began to sip their drinks and just enjoy the moment of solidarity and togetherness.

That was the precise moment when something broke the sound barrier and a large fireball steaked across the night sky of National City, barely avoiding crashing into a building.

"What the hell is that?" Eliza whispered.

"Nothing good." Alex answered grimly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time a mysterious object was streaking across the night sky of National City, there was an important meeting being held at Lord Technology. In wake of recent events, no one questioned a full military detail marching in to meet with Maxwell Lord. The man, after all, was a genius, and there were countless things the military could request from him.

Only the military wasn't taking anything from Maxwell Lord. They were giving it to him.

General Lane set several cases on Lord's desk. Without preamble, Lord opened the box and found several compact, futuristic looking devices nestled inside. Each ones was hundreds of years more advanced than anything mankind had ever seen, but Lord only had eyes for the metal orb that sat in the center. The Omegahedron. He turned it over in his hand and dozens of plans on how to utilize just one flashed before his eyes. But if he could make more…

"I trust that this is all you were able to recover?" Lord asked, still turning the Omegahedron carefully over in his hands. He hadn't slept in close to a week, but this device was worth losing a few more days to.

To his surprise, General Lane actually chuckled. "Not in the least, Lord." He snapped his fingers and one of his soldiers set a cylindrical container on his desk. Lord set the Omegahedron in its case and sunk his fingers into the seam.

With a hiss of cold air, the container opened, revealing the insides to be multiple samples of flesh, all preserved expertly. There were many colors, from red to green, but one in particular caught his eye. It was easily the newest sample, as it had the least signs of slight decay the others did, and was clearly human.

He pointed to the ragged chunk of frozen flesh, all thoughts of the Omegahedron forgotten. "What is that?" He asked.

General Lane smirked. "We ran a basic DNA test on it and compared it to the DEO's records before I was 'escorted' out. It doesn't match any of the alien prisoners, but it does match one test that was found on the computer of none other than Alex Danvers. This is a prime genetic sample taken directly from our mysterious speedster himself."

Lord closed the cooler box and called in one of his…quieter assistants. "Take this to Lab A8." He ordered. He needed to clear the next week with his board of directors to make sure he had time to study this sample and if possible…replicate it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lillian Luthor was not a woman who liked being controlled. She had been lucky enough that Non was unaware of her activities, lest he try to take their progress for himself. As it was, she had just been set to work on an advanced alien computer for several hours, taking just as much time away from many, more important experiments!

However, things were not a complete waste. The Kryptonian who had fancied himself a god had been forced to give people advanced computers to complete their work, quite a few of which Cadmus had now collected, to put to better use for humanity of course. Several of the more tech oriented members were practically drooling over the computers as well as the information compiled by the scant few hours that they had worked on it.

None of these things held interest for Lillian. One of her moles in the DEO had reported that Fort Rozz had been pushed into space by Supergirl, and another one of her moles in the service of Samuel Lane had reported that the general was going to have them recover as much of the debris from Fort Rozz as possible.

They had not been able to obtain much before the military got there, but what they did more than made up for what the military had gotten their hands on. The bisected corpse of a blue female alien apparently named Indigo, as well as the comatose body of non himself.

Indigo's corpse was beyond fascinating. Her very structure was unstable, yet orderly in a way that a humans simple was not, designed to break down and reassemble with the ease of children's building blocks. But the truly marvelous part was her brain. Not even Cadmus could unlock and replay genetic memories, but Indigo's brain was essentially a high-functioning supercomputer, making it hackable.

No one else was allowed to look at Indigo's memories before Lillian, and she had so far re-watched several days' worth of the blue alien's life, recording anything that might be of further use to mankind. But one thing in particular stood out. A young man under the effects of Myriad had been discovered to possess extraordinary abilities, easily on par with that of the Kryptonians, and yet he was human, unsullied by alien DNA.

It appeared that all one needed to do to unlock that power was advanced science and a supply of electricity. Both of which Cadmus had in spades.

A smile eerily reminiscent of Indigo's own grew on Lillian's face as she began to take notes on how the Flash went over how it was he became connected with the Speed Force.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Another chapter! And it is easily the longest chapter I've ever posted. Don't worry, I only neglected a _couple_ real world responsibilities to get it done. **

**I…changed a couple of things here, things that technically not even Barry's presence could have changed. Like Alex being better at fighting, because one of the few things that I didn't like about Supergirl was that she was suddenly able to match Alex within a few months. So I decided to explain it by Alex having taken things easy on Kara. And also with Non and Indigo because seriously what the hell happened to them after the finale?**

**Again, Barry and Kara aren't immediately going to jump into a relationship, because they both have their hang ups, but I hope I've made it clear that they've acknowledged that they're attracted to each other, and are developing a bit of actual affection for each other. And then a certain Daxamite is about to crash in and complicate things even further.**


	4. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Barry and Kara deal with some stuff

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_Night 4_

Barry knew immediately that the object hurtling across the sky was no ordinary meteor. Granted, he did not have a lot of experience with meteors, asteroids or even comets, but regular space rocks did not manage to fly under their own power, defying gravity simply to narrowly avoid crashing into buildings, sporadically jumping upwards as if directed by a drunken pilot.

Kara and J'onn were off in a flash, quickly transforming into their superhero alter egos, flying up into the sky to chase the meteor down, leaving everyone else who had been in the apartment to silently panic and hope that the duo could handle the problem.

Barry wasn't sure what to do. This wasn't a problem that could be solved by speed, it wasn't something that could be solved by _fighting_ , and it wasn't something forensic abilities could solve. It wasn't something that either Barry Allen or the Flash could do anything to help with.

But he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. In the blink of an eye, Barry was running underneath Supergirl and Martian Manhunter as they closed in on the meteor, narrowly avoiding civilians just as the meteor was narrowly avoiding buildings. His suit had gotten shredded when he had 'helped' Kara defeat Non, and he could already feel the drag his civilian clothes were creating, slowing him down considerably.

He grit his teeth and let the Speed Force flood his body to compensate for the drag, becoming a darkly colored blur to the populace.

What the flyers couldn't spot from their positions above, Barry could from below; the object hadn't burned up as it entered the atmosphere as it _should_ have, probably making it something both metallic and manmade. That didn't seem to mean that it was built to take all of the pressure of re-entering the atmosphere, and chips had fallen off of the meteor, hurtling down towards earth.

And if there was one thing Barry knew, it was that small metallic objects plus high velocities was not a good thing for anyone hit with one.

Barry felt his clothes began to heat up as he caught multiple burning chips of metal that narrowly avoided becoming lodged in several unaware civilian's skulls. Fortunately, he had adequately recovered from his imprisonment and drainage, so his only fear was that his clothes might catch fire before he managed to get back to the apartment.

Those thoughts took a back seat when Barry noticed Martian Manhunter take a dive to catch someone falling off a building, the mysterious meteor miming his actions and taking a turn towards the Earth. Barry knew that a large, likely metallic and very dense object plowing into the ground would not end well for anyone within a few square blocks.

But it wasn't like a bullet, he couldn't just catch it, and he had seen Supergirl's attempt at grabbing it be repulsed by some sort of field surrounding it, meaning that he couldn't directly touch it either, even if he managed to somehow get in the air.

Barry didn't have the familiar voices in his ear of STAR Labs to rely on. He didn't have Cisco to run calculations or Caitlin to explain the dangers. He just had to act, and fast. As he wracked him brain his first real fight with his powers came back to him, how he had been able to make his own tornado.

As the meteor hurtled toward the ground in near slow motion, Barry did a rough estimate of where it would land, which was thankfully not a populated area, rather an abandoned lot. Still, such an impact could send other chunks of debris out, and even had a chance of destabilizing a building or two nearby. Barry began to run in a tight circle, quickly wearing a path in the ground as wind began to whip around him, forming into a miniature tornado, just in time to catch in the in-coming projectile.

The tornado didn't stop the meteor, not really, but it did slow it down and managed to put out the fire thanks to a sudden lack of oxygen. As Barry slowed, the comet drifted closer to the ground, until the large metal object settled onto the soft dirt, the tornado dissipating as Barry skidded to a halt several feet away.

Supergirl and Martian Manhunter both landed nearby not a moment later, staring in wonder at the metallic object. Barry could now see that it looked almost like a giant metal fish with glowing blue veins. It was very similar to the only other alien spacecraft he had had the pleasure of viewing.

"That pod looks almost identical to mine…" Supergirl breathed, her eyes wide, focused entirely on the machine. That was, until something out of the corner of her eye re-directed her attention, that something being Barry.

Even from several feet away, Barry could tell that the Girl of Steel had suddenly turned as red as a traffic light, and Martian Manhunter was making a point of not looking at him, making Barry look down in confusion at his clothes.

Or rather, his lack of them. That's the moment that Barry realized his clothes had burst into flames and disintegrated at some point while he was making the tornado, having been so focused he hadn't realized their absence, leaving him in a smoking pair of boxers that threatened to disintegrate too.

"I, uh, I'm….there's no words that can help this situation, are there?" Barry muttered, doing his best to cover himself with his hands. Before he could make things any worse, Barry disappeared in a flicker of yellow lightning, feeling that he could truly live up to the mantle Scarlet Speedster in that moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara flew back into her apartment via her perpetually opened window, her mind continually playing over the past few minutes. The Kryptonian pod held a passenger in it, just as hers had, but rather than a child, it was a full grown man. She had tried to shake him awake, but the man simply would not awaken, his head lolling back and forth until J'onn forced her to step away from her kinsman.

There was another Kryptonian on Earth. Scratch that, it was huge that there was another Kryptonian _at all._ How had she and her parents not managed to hear about him before she left? Had he been lost in the Phantom Zone as well or had he been trapped in space for decades in a slowly weakening stasis field?

Kara had so many questions, but not nearly enough answers. J'onn had called in the DEO to move both the man and the pod back to headquarters, to make sure that the man was okay and that the ship wasn't in danger of exploding, which Kara hadn't even considered a possibility. Everything would have to wait until tomorrow.

A floorboard squeaked, and Kara immediately brought her fists up, ready to beat whoever it was had intruded in her home. Alex and Eliza had been called in to help J'onn, and James and Winn had both headed back home, after James had texted her that they would meet up tomorrow to discuss _this_ properly, which would have been much more exciting at any other point in time.

So there should have been no one in her home.

"Reveal yourself, or I won't go easy on you." Kara ordered firmly, slipping into her Supergirl voice as she held her fists at the ready.

Barry Allen peeked his head out of her bathroom, toothbrush in mouth. "Hey, Kara." He greeted through a mouthful of toothpaste. Kara lowered her fists in confusion as the man ducked back into the bathroom to swish and spit.

"Barry, what are you doing here? I thought Winn had let you stay at his place?" Kara asked. She had felt an odd mixture of disappointment and relief when she had heard that, though she had put it aside to hopefully deal with later, when things settled down a bit.

Barry walked out of the bathroom and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, holding a plastic bag of toiletries casually in one hand. Kara noticed that he had managed to get his hands on a new set of clothing, hopefully not from her neighbor Linda's ex-husband's collection again.

"Well, it turns out that Winn's landlord doesn't like mostly naked men appearing in the apartment of another man while she's performing a surprise inspection. She's very…let's say, traditional." Barry looked like he was trying to force himself not to blush, and failing badly. Kara had to do the same as she recalled Barry's running off not long ago, but firmly put the image of a mostly naked Barry Allen out of her mind.

"I can't imagine that any woman would be comfortable with a naked man suddenly jumping out at her on her property." Kara couldn't help a grin coming to her face as she teased her fellow hero. "Maybe Ms. Grant was right about the _Flash_."

" _Mostly_ naked." Barry stressed, his eyes fixed on anything that wasn't Kara. "Mostly naked is still faintly clothed. And I meant more along the lines of her not liking the thought of two men living together in an apartment with only one proper bed."

Kara's brain stalled for a moment as she processed that. Krypton didn't really make any big issues about homosexuality, or sexuality in general, and sometimes it still struck Kara as odd how obsessed some humans were about it. "So…why are you in my bathroom again? I don't know how it works on your Earth, but we generally don't sleep in the tub."

Barry snorted and finally made eye-contact with her again. "No, Winn loaned me some money, so I went out and bought some necessities, like, you know, pants. After that I could only afford a really cheap hotel room that doesn't have running water. So I thought I'd pop over to brush my teeth and grab what remains of my suit, is that okay?" He asked, a touch of anxiety in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Kara immediately went to get the shredded remains of the suit. It had several major tears from Barry's time imprisoned, but apparently moving at high speeds tore them open further, essentially reducing the whole thing to the chest plate and lots of red leather.

Barry gratefully accepted what remained of his suit, putting the leather in his toiletries bag but keeping the chest plate out. He sunk down to the couch and stared at it, an odd smile on his face. "Cisco would kill me if he found out what happened to our suit." He muttered.

Kara sat down across from her friend, who seemed for a moment to be off in his own world, just holding the chest plate. She reached to put her hand on his supportively, but jerked it back at the last second. "Who's Cisco?" She asked instead. Barry blinked as if a mist had been lifted from his eyes and looked up at her.

"He's a friend from back on Earth 1. He's…well, he's kind of like Winn to be honest, nerdy but smart." Barry admitted, a fond smile growing on his face. "He's really possessive of the suit, and any of his other creations."

"You make him sound like a mad scientist." Kara pictured Winn with crazy hair and a lab coat, cackling madly. It was more amusing than scary, something she would never tell Winn.

"I think 'worryingly enthusiastic' scientist might be a better term." Barry corrected, tracing a thumb over the surface of the lightning emblem. "With a little bit of sci-fi geek and boundless confidence thrown in for flavor."

"Wow. Normally nerds don't have tons of self-confidence in this world." Kara admitted. Back in school, the nerds were the only people who seemed to want to blend in more than her, though it was out of fear of others doing harm to them rather than fear of doing damage to others.

Barry shook his head. "Nope, same in mine, Cisco's a bit unique. He was trying to give me a pep-talk about talking to women so he walked right up to a barista he'd never met and asked her out." Barry reminisced.

"You normally don't think of superheroes as having to get tips on talking to women." Kara pointed out. "How did it go?"

"Oh, she shot him down immediately. Well, at first. After that they started going out but it turns out that she was a magical bird-woman whose soul is bonded to her reincarnated lover from Ancient Egypt."

Kara laughed for a moment before seeing that Barry was serious. "Your dimension sounds like a lot of fun." Kara confessed honestly. Barry met her eyes and Kara could almost see a lifetime of experience flash through his eyes.

"It can be."

The two sat in silence, both thinking of different things, content just to enjoy the other's company for a moment, happily ignoring a small knot of tension that both ample experience pushing down.

"So, what's your home planet like?" Barry asked suddenly. Kara blinked in surprise at the sudden shift in topic.

"You mean Krypton?"

Barry raised an eyebrow. "Is there another alien planet that you're from?"

Kara rolled her eyes, but couldn't help a smile growing on her face. "Smartass."

Barry grinned back at her. "Yeah, I know you left Krypton, but it seems really advanced from what I've heard. I'd love to visit at some point." He said earnestly.

Kara's heart sunk as she saw how excited he was. "That's right…" she muttered. "You don't know."

Everyone on Earth knew about Krypton's fate thanks to Clark's interview years upon years ago, but Barry hadn't done any research on her Earth's history beyond looking for familiar faces. So he wouldn't know that her whole world had exploded, vaporizing millions of people and sending Kara hurtling through a vast expanse of darkness to a distant planet with her cousin.

The atmosphere changed in a scant moment, and the pleasant smile on Barry's face faded at the clear emotion on Kara's. He set aside his emblem and shifted so he was sitting next to her. "What happened?" He asked in concern.

Kara shook her head and scooted away from him slightly, taking a deep breath. "No, it's okay, you don't have to be worried." Kara said firmly. For years the mention of Krypton from the Danvers family would make her break down and hide in her room, but she was stronger now. She was Supergirl now.

"Krypton was far more technologically advanced than Earth is; even with the recent advancements you wouldn't reach Kryptonian level for a few hundred years. But one of the primary reasons for that was that a genius scientist, kind of comparable to Earth's Albert Einstein, found out a way to harness Krypton's core and use it to power any and everything. We had no shortage of fuel for anything we wished, and had no reason to spend time developing new methods of producing energy."

As Kara thought on it, images floated to the surface of her mind. Her memories of Krypton had taken on a slightly dreamlike quality in recent years, as everything that was bathed in Rao's light had soft tones of red and copper rather than the illuminating and harsh light of Sol.

"The woman's name was Orna, who had no House, not properly. Once she had found her method of harnessing the core, she found friends who shared her ideals and organized the entire planet into guilds so that everyone could pursue their passions; the Science Guild, the Artists Guild, the Military Guild, the Religious Guild and the Labor Guild. We were no longer separate countries, or separate people, we were Kryptonians, and that's all that mattered."

Barry got an odd look on his face. "So…she found a source of incredible power and used it to conquer the globe." Had Kara been paying more attention to his voice rather than her memories, she would have noticed a tone of disapproval in his voice. But as it was, she just shook her head and gazed off, remembering.

"No, not conquering. People saw their power and learned that Orna knew best. But after she passed people began drawing on the core's power more and more to fuel their advancements. They got greedy, and ignored the signs of imminent destruction. Only my family, the House of El, saw the inevitable. They sent me and my cousin to Earth, to protect us and preserve Krypton's legacy. As I left, Krypton exploded behind me, the victim of my planet's hubris."

Barry reached out and he took Kara's hand, which didn't tremble. Kara didn't take any shuddering breaths, didn't get misty eyed. But the images of her home world wouldn't fade from her mind, now combined with the thought that there might be another Kryptonian to share their legacy with.

The two sat in a vastly different silence than had been present a few minutes ago, both thinking heavy thoughts. Barry made no move to remove his hand from Kara's, and she didn't do anything to shake it off.

"Hey, Barry?"

"Yeah?"

"You know you don't have to stay in a crappy hotel. I don't mind having you here for a few days."

"…Even if I keep making you pancakes?" A hint of a teasing tone snuck into Barry's voice. Apparently Winn had told Barry Kara's excuse for her anger earlier, and she resolved to punch him.

Kara took her hand out from Barry's and stuck a finger in his face. "If you're going to stay in my home, we're getting one thing straight, mister. _I'm_ the one who makes the pancakes around here."

Barry put up his hands in surrender and laughed. Kara's heart did a small dance number at the sound, but she smiled back, forcing her heart to slow down. She had James, there was no room for anything other than friendship here.

"Alright then, Miss Zor-El. I accept your terms." Barry stuck out his hand, and Kara was reminded of just a few days ago, when she had first gotten him to agree with her, in that dusty abandoned office. She grasped his hand and shook, the two of them grinning at each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry mushed his pillow over his head and seriously considered just running back to his shoddy little hotel room. Sure the bed probably had termites, there had been a couple next door having vicious make-up sex, and the roof threatened to collapse at any moment, but at least there wasn't a chainsaw blaring five feet away from him at all times.

Kara snored again and rolled over, face-down, slightly muffling the sound that was keeping Barry from the blissful lands of sleep. He briefly considered cutting his ears off and hoping they would regenerate by morning.

Barry buried his head into the sofa cushions, where he gained some relief from the sound and breathed a sigh of relief. But as soon as he did, his mind inevitably drifted towards the events of the day, and his guts hardened into a ball in his stomach.

He had been useless. All his speed, all his experience, and yet he could barely do anything when the ship barreled into National City airspace. Sure, he had saved several lives from death by high speed metal, but if the ship had crashed into one of the buildings, there was nothing he could have done. Sure, he could have run people out if he did that, but he was used to Cisco and Caitlin telling him the layout of buildings, where to safely deposit people, and specifically what to do in case of an emergency.

Barry was well acquainted with feeling useless. He couldn't stop bullies from bullying as a kid, couldn't convince people his father wasn't a murderer as a teen, and feeling helpless was basically the whole point of being in his twenties. But ever since he had gotten his powers, there had always been _something_ he could do. Every metahuman had a weakness, every criminal left something behind.

But this world was different. When Myriad had struck he had managed to save one person when millions of lives were at stake, and that save had put him under the thumb of two insane genocidal maniacs. It was only thanks to his regenerative powers that he had been able to get close to the battlefield, just to distract someone.

And then Supergirl had launched a million-ton prison into space. She was so strong that it seemed to defy the rules of the natural universe. That strength was what allowed her to take down enormously powerful aliens, easily on par with, and many surpassing, Tony Woodward, whom Barry had barely defeated with a supersonic punch.

He had honestly considered taking her back with him to Earth-1 and then to Earth-2 to defeat Zoom. What was the power of a speedster to someone who had god-like strength, could fly, and was nearly as fast as Barry to boot?

"… _train with it, and become faster than Thawne and Zoom combined…."_

Bob's words echoed in Barry's head. Thawne and Zoom were both above Barry, but Kara was above both of them. Even if Barry could become more powerful than both of them combined, Supergirl would easily trump that with her array of powers.

But if Barry could become faster than two people who had once seemed like insurmountable barriers to him…who's to say he would have to stop there? Alex had been right, the Speed Force was all about making Barry faster, and he had the will, equipment and time to go faster than ever. He would become faster; truly earn the title of Fastest Man Alive.

The Flash would one day be the equal to Supergirl. Then he could protect his Earth, and even Earth-2 and Earth-38 if need be.

Barry finally drifted off to sleep with a grin on his face, his hand clutching the tachyon enhancer that sat at the bottom of his toiletries bag.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Day 5_

Kara woke up at her normal time, 6:00, with a spring in her step, a smile on her face, and a growing pit of despair in her stomach. James had texted her at some point after she had fallen asleep, and the message should have elated her, but instead it suddenly made her feel like her powers were failing.

_Hey, I figured we could do dinner tonight, finally have a proper date. –James_

Kara kept glancing at the message as she went through her morning routine and wondering if James was wondering why she hadn't responded yet. Alex had once tried to explain the Rules of Human Dating to her, but they had always sounded odd, overly manipulative, and possibly violent, so she had ignored her sister.

She really wished she had listened to her sister.

"What're you looking at?" Barry asked, setting down what had to be his fifteenth pancake to ask the question. Kara had anticipated his appetite and made pancakes roughly the size of a manhole covers, with enough to cover the entire table (though she hadn't managed to replicate Barry's trick at cooking at high speeds). Barry had eaten one in about the span of five seconds, even with a knife and fork, the bane of speed eaters everywhere.

"Er, nothing." Kara hid her phone under the table, and then realized that this was her house and she didn't have to hide anything from anyone, especially her guest. "Just James, we're making plans for later tonight. Around 6:00, so you might not want to be here by then." Kara decided.

Barry nodded amiably and inhaled another blueberry-chocolate chip-banana pancake with an odd ferocity, shaving a whole second off his previous record while Kara texted her newly found plan to James.

"I guess I'll go look for an abandoned airfield to practice in, and then go patrol the city for a while." Barry said casually, his attention solely on his food.

Kara cut a jagged edge out of her pancake and chewed it slowly, looking back across the table at Barry coolly. "That seems like something that a superhero would do, and last I checked you were content to train alone."

Barry shrugged and ate another pancake, eyes fixed on the table. "Well, Supergirl is around to do the big things: stopping Myriad, beating Non, removing Fort Rozz. Someone should still be around to take care of the little things."

Kara's eyes drifted to the chest-plate that Barry had perpetually at his side that morning. "What're you doing to do about a suit? Unless you're more comfortable with being naked on camera than I thought, you probably shouldn't run in your new clothes."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Oh, absolutely not."

Barry snorted and pointed his fork menacingly at her, a small bit of pancake hanging off the end. "You, Kara Danvers, are sexist." He tucked back in to his pancake, leaving Kara gaping in outrage.

"I am not sexist!" Kara defended. "There wasn't even sexism back on Krypton, so I'm pretty sure I'm genetically immune to it… I voted for Olivia Marsdin!"

"I have no idea who Olivia Marsdin is."

"She's the first female president and the best one ever."

"Really? That's pretty cool. Still doesn't stop you from being sexist."

"Name one thing I've ever done that's sexist."

"What you just said. If a _male_ superhero gets his clothes burned off and is photographed, it's funny. I don't think you'd find it funny if you found yourself suddenly naked after using your powers."

"I bet _you'd_ find it funny."

The two stared at each other, neither backing down, and suddenly realized that they were having a conversation about being naked in front of the other. They quickly turned back to their food and dug in with gusto, polishing off the piles in record time.

Kara's phone pinged, and the screen showed a message from J'onn, saying to meet him on the roof, and to bring Barry, provided he was fully clothed. Kara sighed. Why did J'onn choose now to grow a sense of humor?

The duo cleaned up and went out the door, intent on going for the stairs to avoid people, when Kara's neighbor stepped out of her apartment, pulling up short when she saw the two.

"Barry, what're you doing here?" Linda asked in surprise. Then a faint smirk came to her face. "You're not here to peruse through Warren's clothes again, are you?"

Barry waved her off, a slight smile on his face, like most men who met Linda. Kara's brown-haired neighbor was certainly a knockout, and easily could match the confidence of Cat Grant herself, while somehow managing to avoid becoming like Siobhan. Kara felt her smile become a bit fixed on her face.

"I think I'm good for a little while, thanks. Did you donate his Armani suit to Goodwill yet?"

Linda crossed her arms proudly. "Went out and gave it to a homeless guy near his new apartment. There's no way he won't see them on his way to work."

"Yeah! Dad's an asshole!" A squeakier voice declared. Kara looked down to find a small blonde girl with her arms crossed and a resolute expression. Linda chided her daughter half-heartedly while Barry and Kara tried not to laugh.

"Annabel Lee, we do not use that sort of language…even when people deserve it." Linda tried. The little girl looked at her mother with confusion.

"But Mommy, last week you called him an ugly pig fuc-" Linda clapped a hand over her daughter's mouth, reducing her last syllable to mumbles. Kara barely managed to cover up a snort, but Barry laughed openly, immediately looking guilty afterwards.

"Sorry about that." Linda apologized. Annabel mumbled something and Linda gave her daughter a stern look. "Licking my hand will not make me let go. I changed your diapers, remember?" Still, she let go of her daughter, wiping her hands on her jeans, while Annabel crossed her arms and pouted sulkily.

"Oh, right, Barry this is my neighbor Kara. Kara, this is Barry, he took some of Warren's old clothes off my hands the other day. Granted, he didn't fill it out as well as Warren did…"

Barry threw up his hands, a stricken look on his face. "Seriously, I never got this kind of thing in Central City…" He grumbled, crossing his arms and doing an accurate impression of the grumpy five year old across from him.

"We actually know each other. He's spending a few nights with me." Kara explained, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

Linda's eyes sparkled with a sudden pleasure, and she poked an elbow into Kara's rib playfully. "Nice going, Danvers. Didn't think you had it in you."

Kara was getting very tired of blushing where Barry was concerned, but that didn't stop it from happening again. Barry suddenly turned away and was overcome by a coughing fit. "Nonono, not like that." Kara said hastily. "He's just a friend."

"Staying in your one bed apartment."

"He sleeps on the couch!"

"Ouch, cold blooded. In college I at least waited until morning before kicking them out of the bed."

"We're not sleeping together." Kara hissed. Linda chuckled and took her daughter by the hand.

"Fine, fine. See you later, Kara. Good luck with….whatever this is." She said teasingly, walking towards the elevators. Annabel twisted around to wave energetically at them.

"Bye, Kara! Bye, grumpy man!"

Barry sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "This is going to be a long day." He groaned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There are new things you learn every day, prompted by the millions of visual and auditory stimuli you access every day. Barry was accessing a couple hundred at the moment, and he had discovered that he really _really_ did not like flying.

J'onn had provided little explanation; just that he wanted them to come to the DEO for some reason. He had then shifted into Martian Manhunter, grabbed Barry under the armpits and _lifted him into the goddamn air._

Barry screamed, but it was swallowed and tossed aside by the windstorm of howling wind surrounding him. His eyes watered profusely, somehow unprotected just because he wasn't traveling under his own power. He just wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.

Finally, after an eternity in the air, Barry felt the sweet kiss of concrete under the soles of his shoes, and he resisted the urge to throw himself on the ground just to reassure himself it was still there.

That's when Barry noticed something slightly off. Namely, that this wasn't a bunker hidden deep underground, but rather a towering building in the middle of National City, with an oddly convenient landing place just outside what appeared to be a high-tech government office.

"Where are we?" Kara asked in confusion.

" **The Department of Extra-Normal Operations.** " J'onn answered blandly, shifting back into his Hank Henshaw disguise.

"Wait, you're telling me all this has been here the whole time? With the glass, and the views and...and you made me fly to that cave every day!" Kara demanded, following J'onn as he nonchalantly disregarded the two of them.

"The DEO has several government facilities, Kara. Just like every government office ever."

"A bat bit me in the last one." Kara complained sullenly.

Barry snorted, still trying to re-adjust his clothing from looking like he had gotten in a fight with a tornado. "I think the bat was more injured than you."

"He's right. That bat was a vital part of our department, a spy we could send all around the globe. He had to take three weeks leave just to recover from the damage." J'onn said solemnly.

Kara shot him a look of astonishment. "You train bats to be spies?"

"Of course not Kara, that would be ridiculous, now stop whining." J'onn ordered, never once breaking stride.

Alex walked up to the trio, not looking happy, but not looking angry either, which Barry gathered was the norm for her. "Hey, sis. Hey, streaker."

Barry looked accusingly at J'onn. "You had to tell her?"

"Technically it was a government mission and I had to submit an official report. Don't worry, only the DEO, CIA, FBI, the Pentagon and the DMV have access to those records." J'onn reassured Barry.

Barry did not feel reassured.

"Where's the man who fell to Earth?" Kara asked, tapping her boot and glancing around the new headquarters warily, just in case any bats were to fly at her. Alex led everyone upstairs, where they found the mysterious man in a lab.

He was doing push-ups. One handed. With Winn sitting on his back.

Kara cleared her throat and Winn quickly scrambled off of the mysterious alien, who bounced to his feet and gave the group a charming smile. He was a handsome man, nearly as tall as Barry, with a physique that many female (and a few male) DEO agents were stopping to admire, something he helped by being completely shirtless.

"Hello there! May I leave without being hit with the shocking sticks now?" The man asked politely in slightly mispronounced English.

Kara blinked in surprise, clearly taken aback. "Um…..F'uh alah singah." Kara suddenly switched to a foreign language, clearly hopeful. The man seemed to brighten.

"Uta allouh." He responded, twisting his hand over his stomach and bowing. Kara reciprocated, eyes bright with enthusiasm.

Winn leaned in to Barry's ear. "They're greeting each other in Kryptonian." He hissed. Barry nodded, not really surprised, but J'onn turned to Winn with clear disbelief on his face.

"You speak Kryptonian?" J'onn questioned as Kara and the apparent Kryptonian exchanged pleasantries.

Winn nodded a bit nervously. He had seemed off put by J'onn at the party, and at first Barry had thought it was some sort of alien racism. Then he realized that J'onn's biceps were the size of Winn's head and realized he was a bit scared of J'onn too.

"I got bored, so I thought I'd learn a new language. And since Vulcans don't seem to be real, Krytonese is where it's at." Winn explained without a touch of pride in his voice.

Barry was paying closer attention to Kara's conversation than Winn's, even if he couldn't understand hers, so he noticed when her face suddenly fell and she seemed to lose most of her enthusiasm.

"What's up?" Barry asked. The mysterious man seemed a bit nervous as well, but he seemed to be wary of the armed guards and didn't move.

"He's not from Krypton." Kara announced sadly. "He's…Mon-El. Of Daxam."

It was fairly clear that no one in the room understood what that meant except for Kara and Mon-El.

"Daxam is the greatest planet in the universe, and sister planet to Krypton." Mon-El explained proudly. "When Krypton exploded, the debris fell to Daxam, my prince sent me to this planet to avoid death by flaming chunks of rock."

"Your prince? The frat boy of the universe saved you rather than save himself?" Kara said, disbelief thick in her voice. Mon-El's smile became a touch less charming and his fists clenched involuntarily, making several DEO agents raise their guns.

"Yes." Mon-El got out. "My prince saved me."

_The palace was crumbling. The structural integrity had been sound mere minutes before, but then a deafening roar shook the ground and the stone palace began to fold in on itself. Mon-El watched in horror as his fellow guards that he had known all his life were pulped by the falling rocks. There was nothing that he could do for them…but he could still protect his prince._

_Mon-El seized his charge by the hand and dragged the shocked young man behind him, narrowly avoiding being crushed by an ornate statue shattering on the ground. The prince's gaze was empty and hollow as he followed his guard out, to the only available exit, through which they could see shattered stone and leaping flames. The air burned his eyes and throat as he breathed in the thick smoke, barely managing to not double over coughing._

_Mon-El threw his arms over his prince as an explosion pushed them back from the exit, feeling the shockwave ripple through him, just far enough away to not take enough permanent damage._

_He pulled on his charge, but the prince stared off into the palace, hearing the sounds of screaming and pleading echoing from the inner chambers over the explosions outside._

" _My prince, we can't stay here." Mon-El said forcefully. The prince favored him with dead eyes that only showed a flicker of life in them, submitting to his guard. "Come on!" Mon-El pulled him along, out of the palace and into the light of Rao._

_Mon-El had never seen so much devastation, never could have imagined so much agony and helplessness, surely not even in their world's extensive history of war had Daxamites suffered so much. There wasn't a second that passed where someone wasn't taken down by a hunk of stone or metal. He quickly became acquainted with the sickly sweet smell of burned flesh, could almost taste it in the wafts of smoke that drifted off each corpse, making bile rise up in his throat._

_He blocked out as much of it as he could. Nothing mattered beyond getting the prince to safety. No one was more important than the prince, right?_

_Another explosion from a hunk of eerily glowing material wretched the prince to the ground with a cry of pain. Mon-El pulled him up and searched the prince desperately for injury, but other than one spot that the prince clutched on his torso, he seemed unharmed._

" _Are you alright?"_

_The prince nodded, his gaze fixed on the body of a nearby Daxamite, impaled through the stomach by a metal rod. Mon-El recalled that man had taught the prince his letters years ago. But then the prince's eyes caught on something else, and his sunken eyes took on some semblance of life. The prince pulled Mon-El jerkily in the direction of a nearby building, one of the bases for royal guests._

_The prince halted before a familiar vessel. It was a Kryptonian transport ship, dented and bruised, but still functional and unmanned._

" _This is a Kryptonian ship. The emissaries?" Mon-El wondered. Was there some Kryptonian diplomat racing across the desolate capital, hoping to reclaim his vehicle? His thoughts clearly showed on his face, because his prince shook his head, a hard set to his mouth._

" _Dead. And so is their planet." Another chunk exploded nearby, and Mon-El's gaze finally found its way upward. The far off orb that was Krypton was now a mass of pure fire and stone, raining down destruction and fury on Daxam. Was this some last-ditch revenge on Daxam by the Kryptonians?_

" _All of this is Krypton's doing." The prince growled. Mon-El shook his head. Now was not a time to focus on hostility for a dead race. If no Kryptonian was going to be able to make use of this ship, then the prince could escape in it._

" _We need to get out of here." Mon-El guided the prince toward the vessel, but the prince jerked back, looking up at his guard with a hint of desperation._

" _I can't fly one of these. Can you program the destination?" He asked fearfully. Mon-El nodded curtly and hopped into the ship, the controls coming alive under his fingers. The nearest inhabited, neutral planet would do, away from Daxam's enemies. The only one near enough was a planet orbiting the yellow sun Sol, a planet categorized as Earth._

" _Launch countdown started." Mon-El reported, checking the diagnostics to see if anything would malfunction during the flight. A bit dinged up, but everything looked fine so far…_

_Energy began to hum through the Kryptonian vessel as the ship encased him fully, locking him inside the cockpit. Mon-El looked up to find his prince with his hands on the outside controls, clearly having been the one to lock his guard in, a resolute expression on his normally carefree face._

_Mon-El began to pound on the glass, but it didn't budge. "No. No! You can't…"_

" _You have to save yourself." The prince ordered. A sheen of sweat began to work its way onto the prince's forehead and his face was tight with pain. Mon-El began trying to unlock the ship from the inside, but nothing was responding, all energy being directed to the upcoming launch._

" _For one in your life, obey me." A touch of wistfulness entered his prince's voice. "Those are my people out there." The prince moved his hand from his torso, revealing a bloody gaping wound he had hidden. "Let me share in their fate."_

 _The prince backed away, and Mon-El could see all of the life in his eyes fade to a faint spark. "_ Beyalat Daxam!" _The prince shouted. For the valor of Daxam. The ship began to whir as it lifted off, and the stasis field engaged, swaddling Mon-El in an energy field that tugged his eyes close, despite his fervent attempts to keep them open._

_The last image Mon-El had of Daxam was glowing green rocks ripping his prince in half, his entire world dying around him. Mon-El's consciousness began to fade, and he finally succumbed to sleep._

_Beyalat Daxam._

The entire room was silent as they digested the story Mon-El had weaved for them. Mon-El had been remarkably relaxed through the whole account, sounding at peace with what happened, but his entire body was tight with tension, and his eyes were nearly manic as he described the destruction of his planet.

"So you were a palace guard?" Alex asked, her hands still ready to grip her weapon. Barry could see a touch of sympathy in her expression, but it was overshadowed by her professional duty.

"For the great royal family of Daxam." Mon-El declared proudly.

Kara snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ugh, they were the worst. Their son was rumored to be even worse, partying all over the world and refusing to take responsibility for anything."

Mon-El winced, but didn't deny what she said. "He…had his good moments too." He defended. His story had made it clear that he and the prince were close, and Barry felt a surge of sympathy that was offset by a scoff from Kara.

Barry tapped Kara on the shoulder and gave her a friendly smile. "Kara, could I speak to you for a moment?" Kara gave him a confused look and the two of them stepped away from the group. Barry spent a few moments looking for an abandoned room and guided Kara in, locking the door behind them.

Kara raised an eyebrow. "What's up, Barry?" she asked innocently.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Barry asked bluntly. He couldn't restrain the disappointment in his voice, and anger as well.

The words seemed to strike Kara like a physical blow, and it took her a few moments to process it. " _Excuse_ me, what did you just say?"

Barry took a step closer to her, a tingle of electricity running over his skin. "I'm asking what the _fuck_ is wrong with you, Kara Zor-El." He clarified. "I know you heard his story, same as me. You sat there and heard how his prince sacrificed himself for Mon-El, and then you stood there and insulted him, right in front of the man who he died to save. How would you feel if someone insulted your parents right in front of you?"

As opposed to a look of shame, a look of outrage grew on Kara's face. "People _have_ insulted my parents. All year countless aliens have said terrible things about both of my parents, but I didn't let it get to me! If I can do it, so can he."

"Except you've had over a decade to come to term with your planet dying, surrounded by a loving family." Barry bit out. "It may have been over thirty years since Daxam died, but for him it only happened yesterday. He _watched it happen_ , Kara. He watched his friends die right in front of him."

Kara scoffed. "Well he seems to be taking it remarkably well." She said, her voice heavy with disapproval. Now it was Barry's turn to gape at her.

"Can you not see it?" He asked in disbelief, a bit of the anger going out of his voice.

"See what?"

"He's in shock, Kara. I've seen it before, working with the police. Some people just shut down and revert to old behavior because they can't handle what they've seen." That's what people had thought happened to Barry, and he had done a lot of research to prove them wrong.

"Or maybe that's just how Daxamites are. They're not bothered by doing or seeing horrible things." Kara defended.

"Kara, I'm going to say this without the least bit of joking: You are being incredibly racist right now."

"It's not racist if it's _true_."

Barry threw up his hands and wanted to scream in frustration, but heard a knock on the door. He turned and saw J'onn leaning in, face blank as usual.

"If you two aren't busy ruining every conversation in the building, I have something to show you, Mr. Allen."

Barry took a deep breath and looked over to find Kara doing the same, doing his best to calm down. The lightning that was playing over his skin began to flicker out and he nodded back at J'onn.

"Yeah, we're finished."

The 'for now' remained unsaid, but everyone in the room could hear it clearly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mon-El resisted the urge to fidget as he did his best to sit still on the uncomfortable chair that the 'scientists' ran multiple scans on his, monitoring him, scanning to see if he was healthy or if he carried some sort of alien virus.

Or at least, they were trying to. Mon-El had to learn multiple languages back on Daxam so that he could appropriately impress and seduce foreign visitors, and English was much easier than most others, so he could easily tell the scientists were frustrated that none of their toys were working.

The attractive red-head Alex Danvers growled out an unlikely anatomical configuration as yet _another_ needle snapped against the skin of his inner arm. To Mon-El it felt as if someone had merely poked him. In fact it was sort of ticklish.

"I'm confused. Why do you keep doing that if it failed the first, second and third times?" Mon-El asked curiously.

Alex snorted as another crease appeared on her forehead and she picked up syringe number thirty two. "Well, it's fairly clear that, given your similar powers to Kara's, that you gain them by exposure to yellow sunlight. But for both Kara and Sup-….her cousin, it took a while to soak up enough sunlight for their full powers to activate, and you didn't get a lot while in the pod. So while your skin is tough, it's not invincible yet, so there has to be something that can penetrate you."

"You know, I'm a lot more used to being the one that does the penetrating." Mon-El said, leaning in slightly and turning up the charm.

Even with his new invulnerability, that didn't keep it from hurting when Alex Danvers punched him in the nose, hard. Mon-El cursed in his native language and his hand rose to rub his aching nose.

Alex gave him a sweet smile that was more a bearing of teeth than anything else. "See? Now you're going to be quiet unless you want me to try and find what other parts of your body are still…sensitive."

"Yes ma'am." Mon-El said fearfully. Even for a former prince of Daxam who had pissed off a lot of people by sleeping with their mates, Alex Danvers was one scary person.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara resisted the urge to stomp as she followed J'onn and Barry downstairs to the basement level of the DEO headquarters. Supergirl did not stomp. She especially did not stomp when someone insulted her in a way that no one had ever dared to.

She could let the easy bickering from the morning go, as it was clearly meant in jest, and with their former argument tied up quite nicely by Barry deciding to help the people once again, she had hoped that the two of them wouldn't find anything else to argue about.

But then to insult her, say she was insensitive to the suffering of having one's planet blown up, was the very height of disrespect. Even as she followed the two, she was crafting arguments in her head to make Barry understand that Daxamites just didn't _understand_ the suffering of others; Father had even said that they were biologically pre-disposed to it…

Kara pulled up short, and a sickening nausea filled her stomach. Everything she had just thought sounded more like the ravings of a KKK member, not one of the last survivors of Krypton. Kara had been a child when Krypton had exploded, and she hadn't seen any of the suffering, so she had dealt with it like a child should, by crying and grieving.

Mon-El had been an adult who witnessed enormous suffering in a short period of time, and he dealt with it like an adult would: by shutting down emotionally and putting up a façade.

She took a deep breath and let it out, letting Barry and J'onn go on without her. Okay, maybe she had been a bit harsh. Theirs were different situations, and Mon-El was clearly a different sort of person than her. But he was still a person that she had unintentionally insulted.

Kara turned on her heel and began to march back to the lab. She would apologize to Mon-El for what she had said, even if 'apologizing to a Daxamite' seemed to be an oxymoron. Kara stopped marching up and began to rub her temples, groaning lowly to herself.

Damnit, this was going to be tougher than she thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry looked around the area J'onn had led him into with confusion. It was remarkably like the underground headquarters, but completely empty, and had panels of one way glass high on one wall.

"Uh…what is this place?" He asked J'onn.

"When we designed this space, we wanted a safe place to test the powers of friendly aliens to see how powerful they were. Unfortunately we couldn't use it when Supergirl came on board, as she is naturally far too destructive, but it seems we have now found a use for it. Welcome to your testing grounds, Mr. Allen." J'onn said formally. He pulled out a small remote and clicked a button.

The room seemed to transform. Whole sections of steel folded up and began re-arranging themselves, quickly morphing the room into a mix between a gym and a torture dungeon. Barry counted five flamethrowers, two jungle gyms, a pit of something he hoped weren't acid, and a table full of Rubix cubes of various sizes.

"We are going to test your speed by putting you through every test in this room. Normally there's a max of two per day due to the likelihood of injury or mental breakdown, but I've been assured you heal just as quickly as you run."

"Why do I have to do this?" Barry asked cautiously. "I mean, I'm obviously as fast as Supergirl, you can tell how fast I am from that."

J'onn nodded. "We know that when running in a straight line, you're almost as fast as Supergirl, but Agent Danvers had been studying the traces of this Speed Force in your system and believes that it extends to your mind and senses as well."

Barry relaxed. "Oh, good. I thought it was to see how much of a threat I was."

"Oh, we already know that you're a threat, but given that Supergirl can stop you at any point she wants and your obvious reluctance to kill, you're a threat roughly on par with Mr. Schott armed with a ballpoint pen."

Well, that was a blow to the already battered ego. But his bringing up Supergirl reminded him of something rather important.

"I, un, don't have my suit anymore. So I can't run as fast as I'm able to without my clothes bursting into flames." And he'd rather _not_ be naked while a team of scientists were monitoring and presumably recording him.

"Not to worry, we already have something in mind." J'onn snapped his fingers and a DEO agent jogged behind them to hand over to Barry what appeared to be folded blue fabric. Barry unfolded the cloth away from his body, letting it unfold, to find a suit.

"This used to belong to Superman, back when he was based more in Kansas than Metropolis and had less control of his powers, so it's fairly durable. Mrs. Danvers was kind enough to retrieve it, and Mr. Schott made alterations so that it would fit you reasonably well."

It was a one piece suit, like Barry's original, but it was of much thinner, dark blue fabric, and lacked his distinctive cowl. The DEO agent also handed him a pair of red boots, belt and gloves to go with it.

"We assumed that you would not need the cape, as you're more ground based and don't need to take aerodynamics into account. Mr. Schott also took the liberty of removing the coat of arms from the suit, unless you plan on going by Superboy." J'onn explained.

Barry nodded idly as he felt the material between his fingers. It was obviously synthetic, and Cisco would probably have a field day analyzing it. Still, it wasn't his suit, not really. Maybe he could talk to Winn about dying it red later…

But J'onn was looking at him expectantly, so Barry disappeared for a moment in a blur of wind and electricity before returning to the same spot, dressed in the uniform they had provided, with two additions. One was the Flash emblem proudly displayed on his chest, and also a red mask that covered his eyes, salvaged from his original uniform.

"These boots pinch." Barry grumbled slightly, pulling uncomfortably on the tight material of his suit, only to find J'onn walking away and letting the metal door slid shut behind him.

" _Alright Mr. Allen, begin with the obstacle course on your left. We begin in five…four….three…two…"_ Before the man had even finished speaking, Barry had made his way through the fore mentioned course, all without a scratch, hearing the whirr of chain saws slice through air behind him.

"Is that all you got?" Barry asked cockily.

" _Not even close Mr. Allen. Prepare for Round Two."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara walked in on Mon-El having a seizure on the phone. The EKG he was hooked up to was going nuts, and he was even frothing at the mouth. The scientists were dashing about in a panic while Winn was wringing his hands in the corner, looking helpless.

"What happened?" Kara hissed to Winn. Winn didn't even turn to her, his eyes fixed on his new friend that was still seizing on the ground.

"One of the DEO agents gave a piece of hard candy to Mon-El to make him stop hitting on the scientists, but then he got really sick and started doing this!"

"Adams, what was in that candy?" One of the scientists barked at a guilty looking DEO agent. The man held up his hands in surrender.

"I don't know! I don't research the candy I eat, man." He defended.

"We're losing him." Alex warned. "His symptoms are similar to a severe allergic reaction; his organs will begin shutting down soon."

Winn ran a hand through his hair, eyes bouncing off of everything that might be of use as Kara watched in distress. "The pod!" Winn suddenly shouted. "The pod puts the person inside in a form of stasis, right? Like freezing them in time."

Kara shook her head and used her x-ray vision to see that Mon-El's organs actually seemed to be hardening bit by bit. "No, I was only frozen in time because I went through the Phantom Zone. The pod does something similar, but it's far less effective."

"But it still might work, right? That's better than anything they're doing now." Winn insisted. Kara had to agree, they tried to inject him with various solutions but none of the needles could penetrate his skin, and having him swallow the chemicals could just make things worse without knowing exactly what was causing this..

"Move aside." Kara ordered the scientists. Everyone scrambled away from the blonde and Kara threw the shirtless Daxamite over her shoulder. "Where's his pod?"

"It's downstairs, near the armory. I'll lead." Alex offered, immediately pulling off her gloves and running out into the halls, Kara and Winn on her heels. The room had multiple machines hooked up to Mon-El's pod, obviously analyzing it for something, but the machine was rather banged up from its entry to Earth. Kara dropped Mon-El in the cockpit as softly as she could and began punching in orders to the outside controls, closing the lid over him.

Mon-El's seizing slowly stopped, and his breathing evened out. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"This won't hold for too long." Winn warned. His eyes ran over the ship with proficiency and zeal that Kara hadn't seen in him since the man had designed her suit. "The battery must be low from its flight, and damaged from re-entry. It'll only be able to keep him alive for a few days max."

"Then we need to use that time to figure out what was in that food he reacted so negatively to." Alex decided. To Kara's surprise, Alex immediately turned to her. "Do you have any idea what that might be, do Daxamites have any major weaknesses?"

"Uh, no. Not that I know of." Kara said immediately. If Daxamites had such a huge weakness Krypton probably would have exploited it generations ago.

Alex clicked her tongue in disappointment but didn't seem surprised. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

" **What's going on here?"** Martian Manhunter fazed through the floor, looking ready to fight if need be. **"I heard an alert go off, is anyone in danger?"**

Winn leaped back in shock at seeing Martian Manhunter phase. "What the hell? Can you just…do that whenever you want?" He yelpedd in surprise. Winn's questioning was cut off when suddenly there was a flash of blue and another man was standing with them.

"Hey, J'onn, are we done with tests now, because apparently I'm doing _really_ well." Barry said with a grin on his face. The man was dressed in tight blue fabric eerily reminiscent of her cousin's, a red mask, red boots, red gloves and his Flash emblem on the chest.

"Where did you get that?" Kara burst out. There was no way that Winn would have had time to make Barry a custom suit, especially after Myriad and later Mon-El falling to Earth.

"This used to be your cousin's old suit, but I Winn-ed it. Won? Winn-ified?" Winn wondered out loud. He looked far more proud of himself for that than he had for having self-taught himself an alien language. "I just had to take out some in the shoulders and arms, because apparently Superman was way more buff than Barry. No offense."

Barry rolled his eyes, obviously amused. "None taken." He looked over at Kara and she suddenly realized that she hadn't been looking at his face since he arrived. She forced herself to not look guilty under his curious gaze, and steadfastly ignored the smirk on Alex's face.

" **So if there's no emergency, then wh** y did the alarm go off, and why are we standing in the Pod Chamber?" J'onn asked testily, shifting back into his human form.

"One of the newer recruits gave Mon-El a candy, and he immediately began to go into convulsions." Alex explained. "We think there might be something in it that he's allergic to, but we don't know if it's just him, or a Daxamite problem as a whole."

Barry frowned. "Are you sure that it's an allergic reaction to the candy? This pod was lost in space for three decades and wasn't in great shape to begin with from what he said. Maybe he tracked something in and is having a delayed reaction thanks to his powers." He proposed.

Alex snorted. "It's amazing he was able to even move around at all given his landing. If you hadn't caught him he probably would have suffered much more internal damage. He might even have gone into a coma." Alex told Barry. He seemed surprised for a brief moment, and then gave her a smile that seemed half sincere and half scared.

"I could try to figure out the pod's telemetry while you guys look at the allergy angle. Maybe he went through some contaminants as he was travelling that we can't detect now because the machines don't work on him." Winn offered excitedly. He had tried to analyze Kara's pod multiple times at the old DEO but hadn't ever had permission, so this must be like a dream come true…minus the part about the dying Daxamite in the cockpit.

J'onn raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I've had highly trained alien experts working for the past twelve hours to figure out where this pod has been with no results. You think you can do what they can't?"

Winn met J'onn's gaze steadily and a hint of a smirk played across his face. "I know I can."

"I'll begin working on analyzing what Mon-El may have been reacting to." Alex decided, immediately heading for the door, Kara trailing behind her awkwardly, guiltily taking a peek back at Barry in his new suit then rushing out, forcing the blood not to rush to her face.

Kara watched in amusement as Alex forcefully deprived the sheepish DEO agent of the rest of his snacks and fiddling with her machines. Kara could only provide moral support at this stage. Science had never really been her strong suit.

"So, are you watching the _Venture_ launch tonight?" Alex asked idly as she ran her eyes over some piece of vital information. Alex always did have a gift for tackling serious matters while talking casually.

"Ah, no. Actually, James and I are going on our first date." In all the excitement about Mon-El's appearance, and her own possible racism, and then Mon-El almost dying, she had forgotten her previous anxiety. Whelp, now it was back.

Kara pinned an enthusiastic smile on her face to cover up for the re-emerging pit of despair. "It's going to be great, we are both finally free and clear to be together. No aliens trying to destroy the Earth, just him and me, together like normal people, doing what people do on dates."

"Mhm. Okay." Alex's tone was almost a verbal eye roll, and Kara felt like she wasn't being let in on some sort of joke. Kara poked her sister in the ribs and narrowed her eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?" Kara asked suspiciously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Kara." Alex said innocently, her eyes focused on her work, immediately making Kara that much more suspicious.

"You're doing that thing where you say 'okay', but you're not actually okay." Kara accused.

"Because you're doing that thing where you're super overeager, which means you really aren't, but you're trying to convince yourself that you are." Alex said wisely, still not taking her eyes off of her work.

"I'm not doing that!" Kara denied immediately. "That's…I'm excited. This is me excited."

Alex scoffed. "Sorry, there's a tickle in my throat." She lied politely.

Before they could continue with this pertinent discussion, Kara's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and found a text from Ms. Grant, demanding her presence immediately.

"And here I thought you weren't Cat Grant's assistant anymore." Alex said, taking a peek at the screen.

"I'm not; she probably just wants to see me about…something. I don't know. But she _is_ still my boss." Kara huffed. She gave her sister an apologetic look and was promptly waved off, Alex's focus returning to her work.

"Go get 'em, Kara." She said absently. Kara rolled her eyes and left with a slight grin on her face, marching through the halls of the DEO.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry skidded to a halt after completing another half-dozen of the tests, a headache forming at his temples. The physical challenges were pretty easy, he could just avoid all the dangers before they reached him, but the mental challenges were staggeringly hard. He still solved them in record time, but his brain was not happy about it.

He was allowed to take a break every few tests so that the scientists could gather actual data. Apparently they had much underestimated his speed, and without a bio monitor in his new suit, they couldn't get results in real time, requiring multiple playbacks to examine.

" _That's good for now Mr. Allen. Get something to eat and return here in one hour."_ One of the scientists ordered from the speakers. Barry nodded, knowing they could see him, and took off at a leisurely run, which still made him a blur to the cameras.

Barry didn't know the outline of this new headquarters very well and there was less space to move around without bumping into somebody, so he needed to ask for directions. He raced up to the top level and found Alex waiting on results with an irritated look on her face, one Barry knew well.

He knocked on the glass pane outside the lab, and Alex turned to him. Her scowl of disappointment lightened into her regular frown when she saw him.

"Well, if it isn't the Fastest Man Alive, as you so humbly call yourself. You escaped from J'onn's tests?" Alex asked.

"Nah, I have to go back in a bit, but I've been given a lunch break. Is there some sort of cafeteria here?"

Alex shook her head, her gaze drifting over to her lab again. "Nope. There's places for you to eat your food, but we're apparently too top-secret to get lunch ladies. Either that or all our budget went into developing new ways to hunt aliens."

"Yeah, that second one sounds a bit more likely." Barry joked, settling down in an empty chair. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No." Alex said, frustration seeping into her tone. "I already ran one test but nothing unusual came up, so I'm running a more in-depth scan now." She gestured to her computer with disgust, the results of the first test displayed in perfect detail.

Something caught Barry's eye and he pulled the computer over to him, reading over the information carefully. "Hey Alex, did you see this part?" He pointed to the part that concerned him, Alex leaning over to read curiously.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Alex, that's lead."

"Is lead…not normally in candy?"

Barry stared at the woman in disbelief. "No, Alex." He said slowly. "It's not. Haven't you eaten candy before?"

Alex crossed her arms defensively. "I'm sorry I can't be like you and Kara and eat everything I can get in my mouth. Some of us want to live into our forties."

Barry rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer. "It looks like it's a really small amount, just a trace really, but it's the only thing that really sticks out… Do we know anything that might relate Daxamites to lead?"

Alex shook her head, but turned her attention fully to Barry and away from the other test. "No, we know very little about Daxam in general." Alex hesitated for a moment. "But I know someone who does."

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Kara adjusted her glasses as she one again walked up to Ms. Grant's personal elevator, waiting for her boss to arrive. It had been hard to overcome the habit to arrive with Ms. Grant's latte in hand, and even now she felt oddly like she might get in trouble for not bringing it.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and Ms. Grant breezed right past Kara, barely seeing her at all.

"Ms. Grant you wanted to see me?" Kara asked hesitantly.

In return, Ms. Grant scoffed, her mind obviously elsewhere. "They offered me a seat on the _Venture,_ but I turned them down. What would I possibly have in common with a bunch of people with too much money seeking existential answers for their meaningless lives?" She ranted as she walked to her office, Kara trailing behind her.

"Speaking of which," Kara could almost feel the weight of Ms. Grant's full attention shifting onto her, "what's your answer?"

Kara hadn't been recalled being asked anything. Ms. Grant didn't ask, she ordered. "Wha…what's the question?"

"Your vocation. What is it?" Ms. Grant took a seat in her high backed chair and gave Kara an expectant look.

Kara's mind flickered back to her previous conversation with her employer and a smile came to her face as she realized what Ms. Grant was talking about. "Oh, you mean what job do I want." Kara fiddled idly with one of the trinkets on Ms. Grant's desk. "I don't know, I haven't really decided yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's only been twelve hours since you asked me to choose my new position, and most of those hours I was asleep." With some time set aside for having a party, saving a space ship, confirming her relationship with James, reminiscing about Krypton and finding a Daxamite guard on her planet. She had had very little time to think about anything else.

"Really?" Ms. Grant asked flatly, her eyes fixing Kara with an accusing stare. "I give you the keys to the kingdom, and you just go to sleep?"

"It was nighttime."

"How many hours do you think I slept last night, Ker-rah?" Great, she had been demoted to Ker-rah status again.

"Five?" She guessed wildly. There was no way she had slept that little, but it was worth a shot.

"Two." Ms. Grant bit out. "Because I care about making the most of my life. I squeeze every drop out of every single day. Sleeping is for slackers."

Kara stared at her boss in horror. No wonder she needed her latte at such regular intervals, the woman was practically living off of caffeine. "Right…" Kara responded dubiously. "Well, I did do this online quiz where you put in all your skills and then it uses an algorithm to calculate your ideal career and mine was marketing." She finished excitedly.

Ms. Grant gave her a forced smile as Kara sat and pulled out the papers she had printed out. "And according to the CatCo website, marketing ranks high in potential salary, future growth and…" Kara paused for dramatic effect. "…work-life balance, which is pretty important right now."

Kara waited for her boss to respond. "What do you think?"

Ms. Grant stared at her with pity. "I think it's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Ms. Grant stood up and turned her back to Kara, walking primly to her in-office bar, retrieving her salad.

"Oh….okay?" Kara said hesitantly. It didn't hurt as much as it might have a few months ago, but it was still like a punch to the stomach.

"You can't internet search a career, Ker-rah. A calling is something within you." Ms. Grant said passionately. "Do you think that Supergirl is a hero because flying is one of her skills? No."

Well, it was a big part of it, Kara thought privately. Just like Barry with super speed.

"No, she's a hero because she has a need." Ms. Grant continued. "To help people, to protect the planet. Like how your friend Mr. Allen is a police officer when he's not zipping around displaying his leather fetishism, because being a hero is what he is, not what he does."

"What?" Kara asked in confusion. Barry wasn't a cop; he had said he was CSI. Why was he even a part of this conversation?

Ms. Grant snorted. "You don't think I wouldn't do my research on a new superhero? Granted, now that he's back in Central City we won't see him again, but I plan to market the hell out of the Blur, because that's who _I_ am. So you need to look deep inside yourself and find out what Kara Danvers wants to do with her life."

Kara nodded, a slight frown of confusion on her face, but still digesting her boss's advice.

"I am giving you two more days, that's 48 hours, and whatever you do, don't come back with the results of a Rorschach test." Ms. Grant ordered. Then she took a deep breath and glared at something over Kara's shoulder. "Miss TeSSMACHER!" She bellowed.

A pretty blonde woman rushed into the office from behind what used to be Kara's desk, a terrified expression on her face that was quickly covered up by a hasty mask of neutrality. It was an admirable attempt, but ultimately in vain.

"Yes, Ms. Grant?" Eve Tessmacher asked nervously.

"Does this dressing look drizzled on?" Ms. Grant asked, her posture perfect, her eyes sharp as daggers.

"Yes?" Eve replied hesitantly, clearly confused and somewhat afraid.

"No. No, this lettuce is drowning. It's floating on a sea of ranch like little Kate Winslets in _Titanic._ Get it out of my sight." Ms. Grant ground out. Eve took the offending salad and ran from the room quickly. Kara thought the other woman didn't know how lucky she was to not have the food thrown at her. That must mean that Ms. Grant actually liked her.

"This is the best replacement for you that you could find?" Ms. Grant asked disappointedly.

"Just give her a chance, please." Kara pleaded. "She is so smart and sweet. She went to Yale."

Ms. Grant shrugged. "So did George Bush."

"You could always re-hire Siobhan." Kara said peevishly.

Ms. Grant's lips twitched slightly. "It seems you've learned to make quips, how cute. Now get out and dig deep." She ordered.

Kara nodded, wondering where that sudden fit of negativity had come from, then rose and left the office, giving a distraught Eve a sympathetic look on the way out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is really weird." Barry said flatly.

"Shut up, Barry."

"If it has all her memories, isn't she essentially the same person?"

"Except she's not a person, Barry, she's an AI, it's different."

"It seems like you and your sister have problems with race."

"It's a machine, machines don't have races. They don't have feelings to offend. And if you say 'that's racist' again I'm going to shoot you and say you tried to attack me."

"Fine, fine…" Barry grumbled.

They were in the old DEO headquarters, which was mostly abandoned. Too much damage had been done to it from Kara's fight with the escaped prisoners, and under Myriad's influence a lot of DEO agents had intentionally sabotaged much of the equipment that was more of a threat than an asset to Non. It was kind of eerie actually, being in a dark cave with only the light of Alex's glow stick to guide them. They had come to a thick metal door with a bio matrix scanner on it.

"Normally this would only open to Kara, but I think she'd be alright with this, and there's no power in the system anyway. If you wouldn't mind…" Alex had said. Barry phased his hand through the hinges and simply removed the door itself, walking into a smaller room with an odd metal canister in the middle.

That's around when the ghost had showed up. With a buzz of electricity, a transparent woman had appeared, dressed in a dignified blue outfit. Her features vaguely resembled Kara's, and Alex had explained this was a hologram with all of Alura's memories, thus leading to their now settled argument, the hologram watching patiently all the while.

" _Hello, Alex Danvers. I see you have brought company_. _"_ The hologram said blandly. Barry suppressed a shiver. Even Gideon, the AI he would apparently build in the future, had talked with more emotion than Alura.

"This is Barry Allen, a speedster from another reality." Alex introduced. Barry waved to the hologram, which got no response.

" _I am unable to help him with returning to his home reality. Kryptonians have long searched for a way to cross realities, but were unable."_

"No, we're actually here for something else. What can you tell us about Daxamites."

" _Daxamites are a foul race of hedonists, barely better than cattle. They live solely to oppress and enslave-"_ "Actually, just if they have some sort of special relationship with lead." Alex cut off Alura's speech, looking uncomfortable, while ignoring the significant look Barry shot her.

" _Daxamites have no lead on their planet. During Jor-El's study of the effects of the yellow sun might have on Kryptonians, he theorized that Daxamites might react negatively to such a foreign intrusion on their system. Unfortunately, they did not have this weakness under Rao's light, otherwise they would have been cleansed from the system years ago."_

"Does it not bother you that she just advocated for genocide?" Barry whispered to Alex.

"Doesn't matter, we got from we came for. You can deactivate now." Alex ordered Alura. The hologram bowed and blinked out of existence. Alex hefted the device that the hologram came from and turned to the door.

"So Daxamites are allergic to lead…" Barry mused. "That only makes them vulnerable to the most commonly used weapon on the planet. I'd hate to have to explain that to Mon-El."

"Yeah, well we have to save him first. Come on, we need to get back to headquarters."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The setting sun leaked in through the windows as Kara rushed out of the shower wrapped in towels. She had gotten back to her apartment much later than she had wanted after attempting to do some soul searching, only to find that James would be at her apartment for dinner in just a few minutes.

Moving faster than she would normally dare in her apartment, she changed into a frilly white dress and stepped in front of the mirror.

No, that wouldn't do.

Another blur of motion, and she was in a tight sleeveless dress that her Red-Kryptonite self had picked out. It looked good, but it didn't really say First Date, so no.

Another blur of motion, and she was in a pink dress that she had bought just a few days ago. It also looked good, but…

There was no time to change. She heard a knock on the door, and her heart made a successful jump into her throat. She didn't need x-ray to determine who it was; she had heard him walking up the stairs the whole time. She rushed to the door and opened it, making sure not to rip the door off its hinges.

"Hi." Kara flashed a grin at James, who was wearing jeans and a casual jacket. Either he was way under-dressed for this date, or she was way overdressed.

"That dress is amazing." James complimented, running his eyes over the outfit.

"OH, this dress? I, uh, I had this on all day." Lying was just a sub-category of using words well, and she was no better at that than she was at speaking in general, but James didn't call her on it.

The two stood in Kara's doorway, neither wanting to say anything first, both caught off guard on the first move.

"So, do you want to…" Kara started.

"I didn't know if you wanted to stay in or go out so I brought options." James interrupted hesitantly. He leaned down and picked up two familiar take out containers. "Pizza and pot stickers." He offered.

Kara and her stomach made the exact same noise at the exact same time as she grabbed the food from his hands, dragging them inside. "Pizza and pot stickers is my most favorite meal."

"Which I know about you." James joked, a slight edge to his voice that Kara didn't notice, following her inside and shutting the door as Kara broke into the food. "I'm surprised you don't have the _Venture_ on, I happen to know how into the space program you are."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see how his gaze lingered on the couch, still made up like a bed from Barry's staying over last night. She couldn't tell if he was relieved or not.

"Oh, that's not a big deal." Kara lied.

"Kara, you can put it on, it's fine." James said knowingly, though a there was a tinge of disappointment in his tone. Still, he wouldn't back down, and she really wanted to see the Venture launch…

"Alright, well maybe I'll put it on without the sound." Kara gave in, picking up the remote and clicking on the TV, the necessary channel already onscreen. As she watched, breathless with anticipation, the engine kicked in and the spacecraft began to rise from the ground, spearing up towards the evening sky and breaking out of orbit.

As the cameras lost sight of the spacecraft Kara could feel her heart rate decrease and she became aware that she had gripped the table with so much excitement that the wood had splintered. She removed her hands with a sheepish grin and wiped them on her dress, turning to James.

"Shall we get started?" She asked.

James nodded and both smiled at each other, and both hoped the other wouldn't notice the touch of dishonesty in the others' expression.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bob stirred his coffee idly as he sat before the fire, heat licking at his legs. He was probably too close to it, but that was fine. It wasn't as if they could hurt him. He swallowed the bitter brew in his cup in one gulp, noting that it still tasted like ashes. He could never understand how the original had liked this stuff...

Jeeves poured him another cup to the brim with the oily liquid. "You have been requested, Exalted One." He reported in a dignified manner.

Bob snorted, and the flames reached out to grab Spike the cat, disintegrating the beast on the spot. Spike popped right back into existence, right where he had been killed, still sleeping. The flames flickered from red to green to blue then back to red again.

"What do the Lords of Nothing want now?" He asked, irritation thick in his voice. Jeeves's mustache was irritating him. The hair bloomed into a thick, full beard and Bob added a few dozen lice just for fun. It didn't bother Jeeves in the slightest.

"They request your presence, as always. They are unworthy of your attention, oh, Exalted-" Jeeves was cut off short as a gaping hole grew in his throat and blood poured out of the wound, dropping him on the floor. Bob watched with dull eyes as his faithful servant squirmed in agony, not making a sound. Sure, he had basically conditioned Jeeves to say things like that ages ago, but it got boring after a while.

"Did they at least say what it was for this time?"

"For..." Huff. "Tampering with…" Wheeze. "The Flash and…" Another splash of blood on the carpet. "Supergirl..." Squirming, followed by silence. Well, that was boring. Bob restored Jeeves's body to its previous condition and tore out the soul, letting the poor imprisoned human life return to the universe he had stolen it from. He'd get a new soul to put in Jeeves's body later, hopefully one that was more entertaining.

Bob returned to staring at the fire, letting it flash between colors and levels of intensity as a faint smile played across his lips. "So, they finally caught on, did they?"

Ah, Fifth-Dimensional Beings were so dumb, but they could be fun. Looks like Bob would have to prepare for a trial once again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Whelp, that's all folks. At least for now.**

**Sorry for the (comparatively) short chapter. I wanted to right more, but then realized I had written 10,000+ words and hadn't even gotten ten minutes into the Adventures of Supergirl, so if I'd continued this chapter would have been probably 30,000+ words, and several people have wanted an update so…here it is.**

**Mon-El is awake a bit early, and I do have my reasons for that. I think a lot of the damage done to him that his coma had to heal was done by his crash to Earth, because being encased in metal doesn't mean that your squishy insides aren't affected by blunt force trauma. Because Barry slowed down the crash, he's up and active earlier. Well, sort of.**

**A few people have brought up that Barry seem use-impaired so far, and that's intentional. It's well established that Barry is the most powerful being in** _**his** _ **universe, but Supergirl is just stupidly OP for any universe, period. So that'll be something he'll have to work through. Plus, Barry can very easily become stupidly OP too, and I don't want that to happen too soon.**

**His new suit will not be permanent, don't worry. I just like the idea that superheroes go through a lot of suits because of all the danger they go through, and he doesn't have Cisco to make him another one. Hence, the Superboy suit.**

**Did it really throw anyone else off that Kara tore into 'the prince' right after Mon-El's story? Because it really did for me, so more than just Mon-El is going to take issue with Kara's racism in this story.**

** Thanks so much for reading and always remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW. **


	5. Satisfied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mon-El vomits and Superman shows up

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Mon-El had never quite had the experience of sleeping without dreaming. It was a curious thing. He wasn't floating in a black void of nothingness, because he couldn't see any blackness, and he couldn't feel any nothingness. He only had a vague awareness of his own body, but it was an awareness on par with acknowledging that bears exist. There was no emotion, no attachment, no feeling to it.

Come to think of it, he couldn't really feel anything, nor could he hear, smell, taste or see anything. Yet at the same time, he was aware of something, multiple presences surrounding him.

_"This doesn't seem ethical."_

Who was that? It wasn't really a voice in his ear, it was more like he was just suddenly aware of those words having been said near him. The voice was familiar, it belonged to that short, incredibly enthusiastic man, Winn.

_"Do you mean giving an untested cure to a comatose man whose biology we know very little about, all based solely on theory?"_

_"Yeah, that."_

Mon-El recognized that voice too; it was the disheveled man from earlier. He had never gotten the man's name, but he had watched Mon-El with a peculiar intensity. It wasn't like how the guards of Daxam would try to gauge if someone was a threat, he actually seemed concerned. Despite that, there was something about him that made Mon-El uneasy.

_"Well, luckily for Winn's conscience, none of us are doctors, so none of us technically even have to do anything to try and cure him."_

If Mon-El could have gulped in terror, he would have. Alex Danvers was a scary woman, and apparently had free rein to do whatever she wanted to his unconscious body. Had she been any other woman, he would have thought that a good thing…

_"That does not help."_

Despite the undercurrent of tension, there was still an easy feeling to the back and forth, giving Mon-El a peculiar aching sensation that he did his best to ignore.

 _"Alright, are you ready?"_ Winn asked nervously. Mon-El could sense someone come closer, only a foot or two away, but couldn't tell who it was.

 _"Ready."_ Alex replied firmly.

_"Disengaging stasis field and resending cockpit door."_

Almost instantly, Mon-El was re-tethered to his body, and immediately wished that he could just go back to sleep. Every part of Mon-El's body was sending him every sort of pain signal that it could. He was being burned to death, he was drowning, an animal was tearing up his flesh, he was being electrocuted, he was freezing to death.

Despite all of the pain that his mind was buckling under, he could still faintly made out someone forcing a goopy, foul smelling solution into his mouth, which was locked open in a silent scream of agony. A calloused hand slammed over his mouth and pinched his nose shut, reflexively making him swallow.

"Is it working?" The disheveled man asked anxiously.

Well, it was either working, or he was now dying in a new way. A burning sensation quickly pooled in his stomach and raced through his veins. It was just a new sort of pain, one that Mon-El could just numbly accept. Everywhere the heat touched it left a weary, bone deep ache.

All of the heat once again pooled in his stomach, and nausea rose up in him. A bag was pressed to his mouth and Mon-El vomited harshly. It took several minutes until the dry heaves receded and the bag was pulled away from him face, taking the foul stench of bile with it.

Mon-El's eyes creaked open to find himself once again in his pod. Or rather, the Kryptonian pod that his guard had killed a Kryptonian for. Hovering in his field of vision was a concerned looking Alex Danvers, holding vial of viscous liquid that Mon-El's nose identified as more of the stuff he had been forced to swallow.

Alex pulled back one of his eyelids and shined a light in his eye. "Pupil response normal." She reported. "No longer dilated."

Mon-El weakly tried to bat her hand away. "What…happened?" He got out, slowly shuffling out of the pod. The feeling of soreness and nausea was receding, but the experience shook him to his core. He had never felt pain like that in his entire life. Even dying on Daxam would have been preferable to going through that again.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Alex asked, avoiding his question. Was that normal on this planet? Answering a question with another question?

Still, Mon-El cast his thoughts back to before the pain, before the dreamless sleep. "I was eating something. It was very sweet, but immediately afterwards my whole body started hurting." He recalled, suppressing a shudder at the memory.

"That's because what you ate had a trace amount of lead in it." The disheveled man answered grimly. Mon-El blinked in surprise at the sight of the man. He was now wearing a tight blue suit with red gloves, boots and belt, as well as a red eye bandana hanging around his neck.

"Lead? Why would lead make this happen, there's not even any lead back on Daxam, we had to trade for it." Mon-El asked in confusion. It had been something that his parents had complained about, though they of course didn't take care of the actual trade negotiations themselves. That was more servant-oriented work.

"That's exactly the point." The Suited Man replied. "Lead isn't natural, your system hasn't evolved to deal with it, making you react very negatively when it gets inside you. We're not sure why getting powers made you more sensitive to it rather than less, but it does."

"So, as long as I don't eat anything with lead in it, I'm good?" Mon-El asked hopefully.

"I could try to make something to analyze your food and see if there's any lead." Winn offered, looking excited at a new challenge.

"And we'll make a few more of these anti-lead solutions for you to carry." Alex said firmly. Despite the fact that it was for his own health, Mon-El felt like it was an order rather than goodwill, and he nodded quickly, eyeing the solution wearily.

However, the Suited Man had a frown on his face, and his brow was creased in thought. "I don't know if it's that simple." He said hesitantly. Everyone turned to him, and Mon-El's stomach tightened in dread.

"We use a lot of lead here on Earth. It's in our plumbing, weights, construction and radiation shielding, as well as being used as part of bullets, which happen to be used in the most common weapon on Earth." Barry explained. "So there's always a little bit of lead in the air."

Mon-El's throat closed up, and for a moment he thought he was having another reaction, but realized it was panic. "So there's nothing I can do, and I'll constantly be breathing in poison?" He couldn't help the sudden hitch in his voice, but didn't feel any shame for it.

"It certainly doesn't help that the walls are lined with lead here." Alex added helpfully.

Mon-El's eyes widened as he glanced in fear at the walls. A sudden headache pounded at his temples, and the world became desaturated. He could see a thin, dark box enclosing the entire room, the walls themselves becoming translucent.

"Mon-El?" Winn asked with concern. Mon-El turned his gaze back to them and nearly jumped back, seeing three skeletons rather than regular people looking back at him. Just as suddenly as it came, his new vision fled, showing him the confused faces of the people around him.

"Uh, don't panic you guys, but I think that I might just have developed x-ray vision." Mon-El said slowly. "Is that normal? I couldn't do that when I first woke up."

The three who seemed to be the smart ones exchanged glances of confusion. "Well maybe…" Winn started, only to be cut off by a high pitched noise suddenly ripping through the room. The humans all looked mildly irritated, but the noise struck Mon-El like a clap of lightning, sending him to the floor, once again at the risk of vomiting.

Alex rushed to his side, but the Suited Man pulled his bandana over his face, showing two holes for his eyes. "I'll check the situation." He said grimly. Then, he disappeared in a blur of blue, which did not help with Mon-El's sudden vertigo and nausea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara and James dug into their food in near silence. Both wanted to say something, but weren't sure what exactly to say. For so long they had just pushed down their feelings for one another, forcing themselves to act as 'just friends'. Now that they were in an actually romantic situation, neither were sure what to do, so they just ate. James was on his second slice of pizza, Kara had already placed an order for her second whole pizza.

When James finally said something to break the silence, it was not what she had been expected. "Look, something's wrong." He unmuted the TV, which had switched from live coverage of the launch to an Emergency Broadcast.

"We have just gotten news that there has been an explosion on board the Venture. There are over 200 lives at risk on the spaceship, and there is only one person who can help in time. Supergirl, I hope you're watching this." The newscaster reported grimly.

Kara had been out of her seat and moving since she heard the first sentence, discarding her carefully chosen clothing for her Supergirl suit, marching back out just as the reporter finished.

"She is." James muttered. He pushed open her normal window and took a step back. Supergirl gave him an apologetic look and shot out of the window and into the airspace of National City.

Supergirl flew up until National City was just a dot on the vast landscape below her. She put her hand to her ear, pressing on the transmitter.

"I assume you've heard the news. Any idea where the Venture is right now?" She asked, stressing her eyes as she watched the sky, looking for anything that might be the crashing spaceship, but seeing nothing.

"Yes, there's a mayday transmission from 200 miles above San Francisco, but it's plummeting quickly." One of the DEO's agents informed her, voice calm and collected as normal.

Supergirl nodded, realized that the gesture was pointless, and took off towards San Francisco at her top speed, letting loose a sonic boom behind her. The landscape beneath her rapidly flew by, and a dot on the horizon expanded into the familiar form of the Venture, with the slight problem of the right wing of the ship being engulfed in flame, as well as its declining altitude.

She flew around to the front of the ship and grabbed hold of the nose of the vessel, feeling the metal warp and bend around her hands. The ship seemed to buckle, but kept falling only slightly less quickly than before.

A faint sonic boom registered to her ears, and there was a blur of red and blue as a familiar dark haired man appeared behind her, the House of El crest displayed proudly on his chest.

"Need a hand?" Superman offered with a grin.

"That would be very welcome." Supergirl grinned back at her cousin. After lifting Fort Rozz, this ship was practically light as a feather, but it was very awkward to manuever, and two hands are better than one. Well, four being better than two. Whatever.

"It's good to see you." Superman said casually, as if they were bumping into each other in a coffee shop rather than in the sky attempting to stop a spaceship from crashing. Then again, things like this were pretty much weekly events.

Supergirl turned back to the spacecraft as the engine fire continued to spread. This needed to be done as quickly as possible. "This looks like a job for the both of us."

"Absolutely." Superman agreed. He shot his cousin one last smirk and disappeared, reappearing to use his freeze breath and put out the flames. Why hadn't she thought of that?

The load suddenly lightened as Superman grabbed the end of the plane and began to strain against it to make it level before it hit the ground. It was a more delicate process than one might think, as putting too much strain on the spacecraft could end up ripping the tail or the nose off.

The two cousins managed to stabilize the Venture just in time for it to slam into the Earth, burying Supergirl in several inches of dirt but coming to a halt with no major issues.

Supergirl shot up into the sky and landed on a nearby road to admire their handiwork, Superman landing beside her. "That was awesome!" Supergirl gushed, waving her hands at the craft.

He gave her a slightly hesitant look, one eye still on the damaged spacecraft, and Kara immediately tried to cover up. "I mean, that was terrible, but we saved it! We've never saved anything together."

Superman grinned back at her, seeming just as pleased. A proud look gleamed in his eye as he saw his cousin in full Supergirl regalia for the first time. "I know." he agreed.

"I've dreamt of this moment." Kara admitted. "The two of us teaming up."

Superman chuckled. "Me too. It was every bit as great as I thought it'd be."

The sound of several bike tires squeaking drew the two aliens attention to a family of three, all decked out in helmets and protective gear, staring at them in awe.

"I usually say hi." Kara muttered to her cousin. Kara was always glad to dispel some of the notions that she was some sort of divine protector, and it was always fun to interact with them anyways.

"Me, too." The two nodded and jaunty walked over to the stupefied family.

"Way to go, Supergirl." The daughter said energetically.

"That's Superman." The father corrected, holding up his phone to get a picture of the Man of Steel, not even looking at Kara. She leaned in conspiratorially towards the daughter, a mischievous smile on her face.

"I used to change his diapers." She said in a stage whisper. The family's faces seemed to go slack, and the parents glanced in confusion at each other. The daughter had no such hangups.

"No way!"

"Uh, not exactly sure you had to tell them that." Superman whispered in her ear, carefully concealed embarrassment in his voice.

"No, I think I really do." Kara affirmed, winking at the daughter. Superman snorted, and didn't try to fight the smile that came to his face.

"Well all right then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry resisted the urge to tear his own hair out as various agents pooled into the meeting place at the top floor, all shooting expectant glances at the balcony that he and Supergirl had come in through earlier that morning. For a group of highly trained special ops government agents, they were acting like a bunch of schoolchildren about to meet a celebrity.

His irritation didn't have anything to do with the DEO agents who were discreetly pulling out cameras though. No, all his energy was focused towards trying not to throw himself a little pity party. He had dashed up to the control room only to find that there was nothing he could do. He couldn't even make a tornado to soften the landing without possibly choking Supergirl in the process, so he had to sit idle as she saved the day.

Was this what Cisco, Caitlin and Joe felt like watching him go out and fight? Worry gnawing at his guts, even knowing that there was nothing that could put her down?

There was a blur of blue, and Kara was back in the building, smiling goofily as she walked down the stairs from the balcony. "Hey, everybody, I'm back!" She announced. "Time to listen up…"

Before she could say anything else, there was another blur of motion, and there was another person standing beside her, taking in the room with the same critical eyes that Barry had once seen under the hood of Starling's vigilante.

Superman was a tall, well built man, but his frame didn't bely his strength, which was likely equal to Kara's. His cape and S symbol were much more prominent, and he didn't wear a skirt, but otherwise their outfits were almost exactly alike. Had Barry seen the man on the street in normal clothing, he might not have thought much about him, but there was one thing that Superman clearly had in spades. Power.

Everyone immediately went quiet as they stared at Kara's cousin. The people in front of him shaped themselves into two lines, as if they were standing under judgement from a renowned general. Barry was surprised they didn't salute.

Superman nodded to a few of the people, and Barry realized with a jolt that the man almost seemed nervous under the expectant gazes of the DEO.

"Everyone, this is my cousin, Sup...er...I guess you already know." Kara trailed off, looking a tad mortified. Superman took charge, striding ahead and shaking hands with every awestruck person in line, greeting them genially.

"It's an honor, sir." One of the men stuttered, shaking the man's hand limply. Superman smiled politely back.

"It's a pleasure. I just want to thank you all for your hard work protecting our Earth." Superman said humbly. Kara met Barry's eyes and made a dramatic gagging gesture, which Barry smirked at.

"Did you know she was bringing him here?" J'onn muttered to Alex distastefully, not taking his eyes off the male Kryptonian.

"No." Alex took in J'onn's flat gaze with concern. "Is...that a problem?"

"It better not be." J'onn grumbled.

"Oh my god, he's coming towards me." Winn whispered to himself. "Barry, do I look okay?"

Barry turned to his new friend beside him, who was frantically adjusting his clothes and trying to appear taller. "Er, yeah." Barry said awkwardly.

"Winn, Barry, this is my cousin, Superman." Kara introduced. Her smile was almost nervous, and Barry couldn't imagine why. Until about two seconds later that was.

"I have a million questions." Winn blurted out. He shook Superman's hand vigorously, appearing more overwhelmed than Barry had ever seen. "Okay, so when Lex Luthor set off the earthquake in California, did you gauge the focal depth with your X-ray vision?" He asked desperately.

Superman looked decidedly uncomfortable, and actually somewhat baffled.

"Winn." Kara warned. "Breathe."

Winn had already been breathing, quite intensely actually, but seemed to understand what Kara was getting at. "Right, we'll do this later." He promised, walking backwards to keep Superman in his sight. Superman breathed a sigh of relief, and then immediately looked guilty. Barry couldn't help snorting, which brought the two alien's attention to him.

"Is that my old suit?" Superman asked with disbelief, pointing a finger at the outfit Barry was wearing.

"Well it's either that or him being naked." Alex announced too loudly as she strolled up, not giving Barry a chance to speak.

Superman gave him a slightly frightened look, and Kara was turning slightly blue trying to not laugh. "Er, you can keep it then, it's fine." He muttered. Barry noticed that Superman did not offer to shake his hand, instead sweeping Alex up in a hug.

"Can you somehow get her to not bring that up?" Barry muttered to Kara, watching the two catch up.

"If I knew how I'd tell you, but she still brings up dirt that she got on me in the eighth grade." Kara muttered back.

"I guess that just means that we'll have to get our own dirt on Alex Danvers." Barry decided with a smirk.

"Now that's something I can get behind." Kara's eyes gleamed with excitement, and for a moment Barry almost felt sorry for Alex. Almost.

A sudden feeling of tension filled the air, returning Barry's attention, and he turned to find J'onn and Superman staring at each other with neutral expressions.

"J'onn." Superman inclined his head politely.

"Superman." J'onn inclined his head as well. "It's nice to see you again."

Despite the fact that it was 2016 and they were several dozen stories above ground, Barry half expected a spanish guitar to start being played and a tumbleweed to blow across the ground as the two stared each other down.

"Don't worry, I won't be staying long." Superman promised stiffly. Barry noticed Alex and Kara exchanged concerned glances. Barry didn't have much interaction with either of the aliens, but he gathered this behavior wasn't normal for them.

"Uh, I just invited Superman to see our mystery guest, see how he's doing." Kara explained hesitantly.

"You're in luck then, because Mon-El just woke up just a bit ago." Barry cut in. He offered his hand to Superman, determined to not look foolish in front of Kara's cousin. Not because he was Kara's cousin, of course, but because he cared about making good impressions. Obviously.

"I'm Barry Allen, Fastest Man Alive. This suit keeps me from bursting into flames when I run too fast, so thank you for letting me use it."

Superman's smile came easily, and he shook Barry's hand after only a moment of hesitation. "Well, we wouldn't want to put anyone at risk, would we?" Superman's last words were accompanied by a stare at J'onn, and his grip was painfully tight for a brief moment.

"Er, yeah." Barry said awkwardly, feeling the bones in his hand begin to heal the hairline fractures. "Let's go see Mon-El, then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Any idea what was up between J'onn and Clark?" Kara asked Alex as they followed Barry, trailing behind at the back.

"Beats me." Alex muttered, clearly bothered just as much as her. Then a sly smirk came to her face and she shot Kara a look. "Your cousin smells terrific."

"Enough." Kara ordered. "You know he can hear you, right?"

"Oh, I'm counting on it." Alex purred, batting her eyes. Kara shoved her sister, and Alex chuckled.

"You wouldn't be laughing if that had put you through a wall."

"Yes, but you won't because I'm your sister and you love me."

The two continued to bicker until Barry led the group into a room Kara had never seen before. Kara got an odd sense of deja vu, seeing that Mon-El was once again shirtless and working out, only now he was using a resistance barbell set that she had seen J'onn use occasionally, with Winn monitoring him.

"Alright, you're up to one ton right now, man, just keep at it." Winn encouraged, slowly adjusting the weight settings, Mon-El barely looking strained.

"Is one ton a lot?"

"Yes, one ton is quite a bit."

"How much can regular humans lift?"

"Uh, well… I can lift two hundred." Winn claimed hastily. Apparently he could hear Alex snort, given his immediate glare.

"So, you're Mon-El of Daxam. " Superman cut in. He walked over and lifted the bar out of Mon-El's grip as if it were a twig.

"The one and only." Mon-El declared, standing up and stretching. "Thanks, man, I needed a bit of a break. Wait…" He looked between Kara and Superman, clearly noting the resemblance. "Who are you?"

"I'm Superman of Krypton." Superman replied, resetting the barbell.

"More than one Kryptonian survived?" Mon-El asked sharply. "Does that mean…?" There was a wild, desperate hope on Mon-El's face. It was almost primal, and a tad frightening.

"No." Superman cut him off, his face sympathetic but unyielding. "I've tried to scan for signs of life on Krypton since I found out about my heritage, and found that neither Krypton nor Daxam has any signs of life on them."

He had tried to scan for life back on Krypton? When had he done that? And...what would he have done if he had found any?

Mon-El's expression fell, but he coughed and tried to school himself into his usual charming grin. "Well, maybe some got away." He said hopefully. There was a faint moment of silence as everyone decided simultaneously to not say anything.

"So, you managed to cure Mon-El?" Kara asked awkwardly, trying to change the topic as quickly as possible.

"Oh yeah, we managed to find out that lead is essentially Kryptonite to Daxamites after they've been exposed to yellow sun radiation." Alex explained. "So we had to try and create a fast acting lead absorbent that would draw all the lead to one location."

Superman crossed his arms and nodded "Ah, chelation therapy, so that the lead would be expelled later, right? Shouldn't he have been given EDTA, given how severe his symptoms were? "

Everyone gave him an odd look, used to Kara's lack of knowledge about science and expecting the same of Superman. He shifted uncomfortably. "Lois had lead poisoning last year. I wanted to make sure that I knew everything about the process."

"Wow. That's pretty creepy." Mon-El said offhandedly.

"That's not creepy, that's romantic." Kara said in outrage. Mon-El gave her a blank look, utterly uncomprehending, and Kara recalled that all significant relationships that Daxamites had were pre-arranged, normally from birth. Mon-El would literally have no concept of romance.

"Actually, we couldn't really do either of those." Alex continued. "Mon-El's organs would have shut down before he had time to pass the lead normally, so we had to bind the lead to his stomach as quickly as possible and then make him puke."

"Yeah, I did not enjoy that." Mon-El grumbled, wincing he recalled the sensation. Then he brightened. "But at least I got stronger, and I can use x-ray vision now!"

J'onn's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Alex, I thought you said that he was only exhibiting super strength and invulnerability."

Alex shrugged. "We weren't able to determine anything beyond the strength and resilience, but that doesn't mean he didn't have them. 95% of the tests we ran on him came back inconclusive anyway. Mom said it took a while for Clark's powers to develop too."

"That's because I needed to grow into my powers." Clark corrected. "My cells needed to be mature enough to handle the solar radiation. That's why Kara was able to access all her powers right away, and at Mon-El's age he should have been able to as well."

"Well, I actually have a theory on that." Winn cut in. "So, my handy translator finished decrypting the pod's data long, and it appears Sleeping Beauty here passed through something called the Segara Beyal, where he spent the most time. He may have picked something up through a small breach in the hull, which was also expelled with the lead, giving him full access to his powers."

"The Well of Stars…" Kara recalled. Faint memories of a vast expanse of glittering lights filled her mind, and a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "My father took me there once. Time doesn't pass there."

"Which is why I'm still sexy." Mon-El said wisely, nodding his head. Kara shot Winn an accusing look.

"You just had to teach him that word, Winn?"

"He's taken a great liking to it." Winn chuckled."Speaking of age, I've been meaning to ask…" Winn turned towards Clark. "Superman, you're 12 years older than Kara, right, cause you do not look it."

Kara resisted the urge to hide her hands in her face, and groan.

"Well, Kryptonians age at a much slower rate here on Earth after we reach our physical prime." Clark answered, looking slightly less put off by Winn after hearing that he had managed to hack into a Kryptonian ship and translate it's logs.

Winn undid a bit of that work shooting Clark a finger gun and an awkward grin. "You look fantastic."

"Sweet, does that mean we're immortal?" Mon-El asked excitedly.

"God I hope not." Alex muttered under her breath.

The possibility of immortality hadn't really occurred to Kara before. Clark didn't look a day older than when they had met, over a decade ago, and if that was an example of how slowly they aged then they could easily live to be hundreds of years old. A sick feeling filled her stomach.

"When you're finished, we have something actually important to discuss." J'onn cut in grumpily, his gaze even sharper than normal, pointedly not looking at Clark. "The Venture."

"What about it? The first four previous versions of the Venture had engine problems, this one just had more...explosive issues." Kara asked, forcing herself to focus on the matter at hand. She would know, she had been following the program since it started five years ago.

"Well, the company behind the Venture said that the explosion happened when the ship reached low orbit insertion." J'onn explained.

"How does that invalidate what I said?" Kara asked.

"If it was an engine failure it would've happened earlier in the flight." Winn pointed out.

"Exactly right, Mr. Schott. The Venture was built here in National City. We need to investigate this further." J'onn ordered. His eyes were already distant in a way that Kara had come to know menat he was thinking over various ways to accomplish a new objective.

"Well, maybe a mild-mannered reporter could make some inquiries while he's here in National City." Clark offered slyly.

"Actually I was going to have my team look at it." J'onn said coldly. He was acting like...how he had first acted when Supergirl had joined the DEO, before she had proven herself dependable.

Well then, Clark would just have to prove the same thing.

"Well, if Superman's here, we should include him." Kara said/demanded. "You can work out of CatCo, but you should probably steer clear of Ms. Grant. She's been in a mood." She warned, bulldozing past any objection J'onn might raise.

Superman actually smirked at her. Not a smile, not a grin, but an honest to god cocky smirk. "Don't worry, I've got some sway with Cat Grant."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe that it only took you five hours after learning English to get a girl's number." Winn said in admiration to Mon-El, offering up his hand for a high five. Mon-El grabbed Winn's upstretched hand and shook it side to side vigorously, to the amused glances of several passerbys.

"Yeah, that's not how that works." Winn took a sip of his coffee, still grinning.

"I don't even know what to do with this." Mon-El confessed, tucking the slip of paper into his pocket.

"Don't worry, man, we're going to get you hooked up with a cell phone and then we're going to explore the wonders of Earth Dating." Winn promised. "I'm pretty sure we've got a playboy on our hands, right, Barry?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure." Barry muttered, his eyes catching on a certain brunette that was walking several feet ahead of them, praying that she wouldn't turn around. What were the odds that he would bump into Pamela Isley again?

The three had briefly stopped at Discount Jitters for some coffee(which was basically ineffective to Mon-El and Barry but Winn had insisted) but Mon-El still had too much energy to just sit around, so Winn had decided to go ahead and show his new friends around the city, with Mon-El flashing a charming smile to any girl that caught his eye, which had resulted in a few blushes, a couple threatenings of pepper spray, and one phone number.

Mon-El coughed and took a sip of his drink, not looking directly at Barry. "You're not mad about us tricking J'onn into letting us go out?" For some reason, he seemed to think that Barry was some sort of stickler.

"Nah, it's fine. I mean, asking your guardian to let you go out when he's distracted by something else was practically Iris's go to technique for years." Barry reminisced fondly, tacking a sip of his bitter drink. It was plain black coffee, so as to not be too much of a burden on Winn's wallet.

"Besides, if you got into too much trouble I could have you in the DEO before you had time to heat vision me." Barry joked. Mon-El laughed nervously and shifted away slightly.

"Yeah, unfortunately no heat vision yet." He muttered, still not looking at Barry, instead letting his eyes roam over the crowd of people in front of them, his gaze focusing on one person in particular. "So, is there anything in Earth culture against men hitting on women, or is it one way only, because Alex Danvers didn't seem to like it."

Winn snorted. "Yeah, I don't think even being near-invincible would protect you from her if you tried to hit on her again."

"And I would not recommend hitting on that woman in particular." Barry warned. "She's not..." He struggled for the right words. "...not a great person to interact with." He finished lamely.

"Ah." Mon-El nodded wisely, and actually grinned at Barry, looking somewhat relieved. "I get it. We guards had a saying back on Daxam. I believe it translates roughly to 'Comrades before conquests'. Don't worry, she's all yours." He assured him.

Barry closed his eyes for a brief moment and considered sighing, but decided that this was a conversation he didn't want to get into. "Yeah, thanks, Mon-El."

"It might not be a good idea to use that name in public." Winn cautioned. "Kara gets a pass because her name sounds pretty human, but yours is fairly distinctive so we're going to have to set you up with a new one eventually. How about Mike?"

"No." Mon-El rejected..

"Bob?"

"Please no." Barry pleaded.

"Michael?"

"Ew."

"David?"

"That sounds fake."

"Larry?"

Neither Barry nor Mon-El denied it right away. "Larry...Larry is fine." Mon-El muttered. "You can call me Lar for short."

"Alrighty then, Lar. I think we need to hit up the National City Park next, they've got some awesome food vendors, and if you're anything like Barry and Kara, you're going to need a lot to eat." Winn decided, taking a left and pulling them away from Pamela Isley, much to Barry's relief.

"Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry." Lar admitted.

"Well, bench pressing the weight of a fully loaded cargo van will do that to you, so I'm thinking tacos with extra guacamole for the three of us, what do you say?"

"I don't know what any of those words meant, but I'm in."

Barry chuckled as the three continued walking through the streets of National City, pulling slightly at his collar and hoping no one would notice the blue spandex underneath. Alex had assured him that the material was light and thin enough to be comfortable and unnoticable under his clothing, negating the need for him to carry around his suit in a separate bag, but it was still a new feeling. He missed his old suit.

"I think maybe we should go a different route." Winn said stiffly, pulling Barry's attention back to the present. The two had frozen on the street, everybody crossing the street to avoid the yellow tape that blocked off a large section of the upcoming street.

"What is this?" Lar asked curiously, idly sipping his drink.

"Looks like a murder. Come on, let's go." Winn replied grimly, pulling Lar away from the scene and across the street.

Barry didn't follow. His eyes caught on the body bag being hauled away, the thick scent of charred human flesh, all of the burn marks surrounding the area. His mind immediately spun out of his control, focusing on all the little details that he normally would during an investigation, cataloguing them in his brain.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" A police officer asked sharply. Barry realized that he had gotten incredibly close to the yellow tape, staring at the crime scene in fascination. The officers hand was already on her weapon, and Barry recalled the saying 'a criminal always returns to the scene of a crime' that was so popular on TV shows.

"Uh, no I'm good. Just...checking things out." Barry stuttered. The police officer stared at him suspiciously, but seemed to just disregard him as one of those people who was obsessed with crime scenes. Barry had interacted with a few of those people before, they were supremely irritating.

He was going to walk away when his ears picked up the mutterings of a man, clearly the department's own CSI, talking aloud to a nearby woman dressed in a suit. "...clearly the work of some alien, these markings are far too spread out to the work of any flame thrower, and someone nearby would have noticed someone carrying something like that around anyway." The man said confidently, taking a sample of the ash and putting it in a baggy.

"Actually, it might not have been an alien." Barry cut in before he could stop himself, just loud enough so the all could hear him. The detective, CSI and officer all turned to him with expressions of irritation.

"Well pardon me, but I believe that I'm going to rely on my own professional opinion rather than the opinions of a random passerby." The CSI said mildly, turning his gaze back to the crime scene. His eyes passed over multiple important details without catching any of them.

"Sorry, but I just figured that there were some things you might have overlooked. Like the smell." Barry shot back, a slight tinge of irritation in his voice.

"It smells like burned flesh." The police officer said flatly, crossing her arms but not going for her weapon, clearly ranking him as nothing more than an annoyance.

"Yes, but it also smells like something else." Barry hedged. "Flamethrowers work by igniting a liquid chemical cocktail expelled from one of the tanks, which affects the smell of anything it burns. Like how barbeque will smell different when it's been cooked over a fire as opposed to being cooked on a grill."

The detective and CSI paused for a moment, and Barry could see their nostrils flare as they took in the scent.

"I don't smell it." The detective responded, but the CSI's eyes were narrowed in thought, and his eyes glanced over the crime scene with new fervour.

"Let him in." The CSI ordered. Both the officer and the detective looked surprised, as was Barry.

"Charles, I can't just watch as you bring a civilian onto a crime scene." The detective said in outrage.

"Well then turn around." Charles snapped back. "If this guy can help, I'd rather have him close enough to see if there's anything else he notices. There's a murderer roaming free right now, Sawyer, and I'm not too proud not to take help when I can get it."

The officer sighed and pointedly looked away. Sawyer shot Charles a glare, but pulled out her phone. "Look at that, I've got a call." She lied flatly. She walked away from the scene, and Barry slipped under the yellow tape.

Charles was quite a bit younger than Barry, early twenties at the most, but he had a haggard look to him, and now that he was closer he could see a few spots of grey flecked in his dark hair. The man pointed to the char patterns all over the ground.

"If it wasn't an alien, what do you make of those? They extend well over twenty meters, longer than any flamethrower that I know of." Charles asked, looking nervously over at Sawyer. "You don't have a lot of time." He warned.

Barry's eyes narrowed and he began to carefully step around the scene, eying the point of origin, the intensity from various points. It all looked very familiar…

"Analyzing this looks like more of a job for the Fire Investigation squad." Barry remarked idly, squatting down to sniff one of the ashes.

Charles snorted, taking other samples and eying Barry with something like grudging admiration. "Where the hell have you been, man? City hall's cut our budget down to so little our cops barely still have bullets to fire, and we don't have the resources to hire a freelancer to run fire analysis."

Barry frowned. That wasn't good. And it was clear that CSI's budget had been cut too, given that Vic looked like he would barley be out of school. He would need to look into this... "Are there any major science labs that have reported a break in recently?" Barry asked instead.

Charles's brow furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, a local branch of Wayne Tech reported a break in last night, but nothing was reported stolen."

That didn't mean too much. Most of the STAR Labs inventions weren't listed in the inventory, as they were too dangerous to be legal. After they had found out about Thawne, Cisco and Caitlin had found a veritable stash of high-tech weapons the man had hidden. Had some happened to go missing they couldn't go to the police with it, as the weapons would have been illegal.

And Barry didn't know too much about this Wayne Tech place, but he knew that every lab had its secrets. And this one might just have found itself missing a prototype Heat Gun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sorry, I'm so sorry about that, that was totally my fault." Clark picked up the papers that he had 'accidently' dropped on the ground, apologizing profusely to everyone in the elevator, an embarrassed blush on his face the whole time while Kara tried not to grin.

Kara walked out of the elevator with her cousin trailing behind her and couldn't help but chuckle seeing the most powerful man in the universe step out of the way so as to not bump into someone again. "You've really got that klutzy thing down, don't you?"

"Yeah, no. That one was actually real." Clark admitted.

"Clark!" Kara tried giving her boyfriend a smile as he walked up and did an elaborate handshake with her cousin, but James didn't seem to notice her presence.

"It's good to see you, Jimmy." Clark greeted, a fond grin on his face.

"It's good to see you too, brother. How're things in Metropolis."

"Well, everyone at the Daily Planet misses you. Lois, Ron, even Mr. White misses you, but he won't admit it."

James chuckled. "I miss them too." He said wistfully. "But I do really like living here." He finally glanced over at Kara and returned her smile.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kara noticed Ms. Grant gesturing sharply for her to come over, an alarmed look on her face.

"Um...excuse me." Kara walked away from the two friends, letting them catch up, and walked into Ms. Grant's office to find her boss rushing around the office with more energy than she had ever seen.

"Ms. Grant, are you okay?" Kara asked with concern.

"You didn't tell me you know Clark Kent." Ms. Grant hissed, not taking her eyes off of Kara's cousin, leaning against her for support as she put her high-heeled shoes back on, probably having flung them at Eve at some point.

Kara sighed. "Oh, god, not you too." She muttered. She wasn't surprised to find that Ms. Grant probably knew Clark's secret identity, but she had thought that the near emotionless Cat Grant would at least not fawn over Superman.

"What?"

"No, nothing." Kara quickly recovered. "Yes, I know Clark Kent. He and Jimmy have been friends for years." She could call him Jimmy, now, right?

Ms. Grant did not appear to be paying attention to what Kara was saying. "Do I have anything in my teeth?" She bared her teeth at Kara, still panicked, and Kara shook her head slowly, still confused. What was going on with her?

Satisfied, Ms. Grant adjusted her dress and took a deep breath, then strutted over to Clark and James, a charming smile on her face, leaving Kara behind to wonder what exactly was happening. Ms. Grant was almost acting…

"Clark Kent, as I live and breathe." Ms. Grant purred. "Don't you just look all Mid-Western dashing?"

Kara stared at her boss in horror. She was acting like Alex did earlier, but wasn't doing it to make Kara uncomfortable.

Clark chuckled good naturedly, and Kara noticed that he actually seemed more confident talking to Ms. Grant than he did to others as Superman. "Cat, it's good to see you again, it's been a long time."

He called her 'Cat'? No one got away with that, Maxwell Lord barely got away with calling her that!

Ms. Grant snorted, still eying Clark in a way that made Kara want to vomit. "Through no fault of mine. So, are you still seeing Lois Lane, or did that fizzle out like I predicted in the office pool, no one ever sent me my $20."

"Lois and I are great, actually. Still going strong." Clark replied.

"Oh, so she's not still hung up on Superman?" Ms. Grant asked, a slight mocking edge to her voice.

Wait, she didn't know that Clark was Superman?

"You know, I think she has room in her life for the both of us." Clark admitted. Kara barely repressed snorting in amusement. Hinting about your superhero activities in regular life was easily one of the most fun parts of being a hero.

Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow. "Well that's...modern."

Clark seemed confused for a second, and then his eyes widened in realization, and James looked like he was going to choke from holding in his laughter. Kara had no such restrictions, and laughed openly, making Clark even more embarrassed.

"Oh, no, it's not like…" Clark tried to explain.

"Anyway, how about a tour? Perry White was a fool to let you out of his sight, I might just poach you." Ms. Grant interrupted. Oh my Rao, she was actually teasing him.

Clark offered his arm and Ms. Grant looped hers through, stepping closer than was technically appropriate, leaving James and Kara behind. Clark looked back at Kara. "Sway." He whispered confidently, knowing that Kara could hear it.

Kara leaned over to James, watching the two saunter off. "Did Ms. Grant seem a bit off to you?" Kara asked desperately, hoping to hear that she had gotten some sort of dangerous brain virus to make her act this way.

"Nah, she's always like that with Clark, she goes gaga for him. She actually sent him a drunk text once. It was…" James struggled to find the right word. "Florid."

"Ughhhhh. Gross." Kara complained. This was worse than when she had caught Winn and Siobhan in the closet together, and now she had that in her brain. Goddamnit…

"Yeah. By the way, I saw what you did on TV. Good save." James complimented.

"Thanks. I'm sorry it interrupted our date." Kara apologized.

"It's fine, Kara." James reassured her with a slight amount of tension in his voice.

"No, it isn't. It's not fine." Kara insisted. "That was an important step for us, and I will make it up to you, I promise." Hopefully the second first date would go a little bit better than their first first date. "We will make a plan, and we will execute it. Fully."

"That sounds romantic."

"Smartass."

James's grin died slightly. "I've...never heard you curse before." He asked with concern.

Was it? Kara cast her thoughts back and realized that the last time she had really cursed was when she was under the effects of Red Kryptonite, but was it really that implausible for her to joke around?

"You know what I mean. I just want this to work." Kara admitted.

James nodded, still not looking reassured. "Me too."

The moment was ruined by Kara's phone buzzing in her purse. Kara pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, her smile falling.

"It's Alex." She reported apologetically. James waved her off.

"It's fine, go ahead. I've got some work to do." James walked off and Kara put the phone up to her ear.

"We have a name that you and Clark might want to look into. Luthor. She was the only one who had a seat on the Venture and didn't show up." Alex informed her bluntly.

"I think Clark might know a thing or two about that name…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So let me get this straight. Your theory is that Wayne Tech illegally made some sort of Super Soaker that shoots flame, which was then stolen by the person who killed our John Doe, and we're supposed to go question the same people who didn't want to tell the police that a highly dangerous weapon had gone missing in the first place."

"That was my thought, yes." Barry admitted. Maggie Sawyer gave him a disbelieving look, but didn't stop driving.

"And why is it that I'm believing this?" Sawyer muttered, more to herself than to anyone else.

"Because I have evidence that proves it was some sort of flamethrower rather than alien activity, yet there's no flamethrower commercially available that could do what was evidenced at the crime scene?" Barry responded cheekily.

"Really? I thought it was because Barry is prettier than most of the women you've dated." Charles chimed in from the back seat. Sawyer suddenly braked, and Charles slammed into the back of Barry's seat.

"Fine, your theory has some weight." Sawyer said grudgingly, ignoring Charles's pained groans. "But even if you believe that Wayne Tech developed this 'Fire Pistol', why would they tell us just because I show up and flash a badge?"

"They don't have to. You just have to get us in." Barry said confidently. There was nothing a building could hide from someone moving at superspeed. Not that they would know that, of course.

"I don't want to know." Sawyer muttered, returning her gaze to the streets. "I'm sure that Wayne Tech will be very cooperative."

Barry let the silence continue as Sawyer navigated the busy city streets of National City. He had told them that he used to be a CSI in Central City, but had recently moved to National City for a fresh start, all technically true. He just hoped that they didn't try to check his records before he had time to investigate and find the Heat Gun. He wasn't sure if it was a good sign or a bad sign that they had accepted his help. Good for them, as they got someone with personal experience with a Heat Gun on their side, and good for National City, his help would lead to a maniac with a fire fetish being off the street. On the negative side of things, they were so short-staffed that they were actually breaking the law on the word of a total stranger who claimed to have been a CSI.

Barry would help out with this case, both to help out the NCPD and satisfy his own conscience, but beyond that...what else could he do to help? Maybe the Flash could help out with some of the grunt work, but apparently CSI was just down to Charles, who was smart, but inexperienced, and that inexperience could lead to criminals being let go without proper evidence to convict.

"We're here." Sawyer announced, pulling into the parking lot of Wayne Tech. Barry got out and looked up at the tall, imposing building. It wasn't anything like STAR Labs, but people didn't shudder when they saw Wayne Tech, in fact the words proudly presented The technology of the future on the side.

Barry, Sawyer and Charles all walked in, marching right up to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" The man at the front desk asked, his eyes fixed on Sawyer's gun and sending a warning look to the security guard nearby.

"No need for that." Sawyer said coolly, pulling her jacket aside and showing her detective's shield. The clerk relaxed. The guard did not. "We need to speak to one of your scientists, we think that they may be able to help us in a murder investigation."

The man turned to his computer and typed furiously, eyes flicking over the screen fast enough that even Barry was slightly impressed. "Well, not many are free at the moment, but one Dr. Rita Robbins will be finishing her shift in just a few minutes, you're free to wait until she comes out." He offered cheerily.

Sawyer thanked the man, and all three shuffled over to wait to the side, counting down the minutes. But Barry was not famous for his patience, and he could tell that Sawyer and Charles were also getting antsy thinking about the possibility of a murderous pyro out on the streets.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Barry announced, flashing Sawyer and Charles an apologetic smile as he slipped away to find a restroom, the guard pointing the direction without a word. Barry slipped into the clean bathroom and quickly checked to make sure he was alone.

He couldn't afford to let someone see him, especially if he was going to resume his activities as the Flash in National City. No need to let people think the Flash was some sort of criminal. So Barry stepped out of his civilian clothing and pulled out the tachyon device from his bag. He hid his bag, along with his remaining clothing, in a stall, praying that no one would find them.

The Flash took a deep breath and affixed the tachyon device over his chest once again, feeling the rush of the Speed Force in his system become even more and more excited. He pulled on as much of it as he could, and dashed out the door.

Before the bathroom door even had time to close, Flash had inspected the entirety of the first floor, and had found nothing but the security room, where a vigilant security guard's eyes were narrowing in slow motion as an odd blue blur was registered on the monitors. Using a trick that Felicity had taken the time to show him, Barry erased those scant few seconds that showed him on camera and set a loop to play for all the hallway footage, then disappeared. There were four more stories to go.

Almost a full minute later, Barry had done a thorough sweep of all the levels of Wayne Tech, and it was clean. Scientists working diligently, a few businessmen and women about, their conversations frozen mid-syllable, nothing out of the ordinary. And maybe it was Oliver rubbing off on him, but that only made him more suspicious.

Wait a moment, there's a thought. Most of Oliver's Arrowcaves had one thing in common. They were all underground. But how to get there?

Flash hoped that what he was about to do wasn't horrifically stupid. He made a bee-line for the nearest elevator, it's doors frozen just as they were beginning to close, a tired looking woman with black hair and tense shoulders attempting to clean her glasses with her lab coat, being the only occupant. Flash put her out of his mind and, for less than a millisecond, vibrated at the frequency of air, skidding to a halt inside the elevator.

Flash found himself in free fall as he phased through the bottom of the elevator and maneuvered himself so that his feet were roughly near the wall, then began running again, now in a controlled fall downwards, perpendicular to the ground.

Fourth floor...third floor...second floor….first floor..Negative one, negative two, negative three...Aha! There was elevator exit, three floors under ground, just low enough to avoid anyone who tried to use radar to search for underground structures. Barry once again phazed, and reappeared on the other side of the door, into the darkness that was Wayne Tech's secret lab.

A sudden feeling of vertigo and nausea slammed into Barry like a train, dropping him to his knees and making the lab spin around him. At first he thought it was some sort of defense that Wayne Tech had put into place, but then he focused inwards and found that the Speed Force was fluctuating inside of him, and that he had somehow burned through all of the calories he had eaten that day.

Barry uncoupled the tachyon device from his chest and let it clatter to the ground. Immediately the pain he was experiencing turned into a dull ache, the Speed Force in his system receding. Barry took several seconds to catch his breath again, and the room stopped spinning around him.

He got to his feet unsteadily and picked back up the tachyon device. Even with it, phasing was exhausting, and only using it twice had nearly drained him dry. He needed to use it sparingly, or learn to use it better. Or eat more of Kara's pancakes. That worked too.

Barry still had enough energy to flash through the lab in a few seconds, quickly locating a stash of emergency food and downing it, then finding a laptop that had all of the lab's records on it. They must be pretty confident that no one would find this place if they weren't even going to put a hard password on it. Seriously, who makes their password Supergirl?

He quickly found what he was looking for, both of them. A list of the scientists that worked there as well as a list of the experiments that they were running. The Heat Gun was listed as the Miniature Maximum Heat Generator and Expulsion Device V7, which Barry scoffed at on Cisco's behalf. There were also two scientists that hadn't reported in for work since the break-in, Mark Lipson and Julia Clay. One of those two must be the mystery pyro.

Barry stuck a nearby flash drive into the computer and downloaded the necessary information, using an extra moment to look through anything else that might be a problem. Luckily there was no Cold Gun or anything else he recognized, but there was some odd stuff, like titanium lined Kevlar. Who needed that?

The computer pinged, announcing that the flashdrive had downloaded all the data he needed. Huh, that was fast. Barry pocketed the flashdrive and headed to the elevator, this time vibrating his hand so fast that the solid steel doors caved underneath his blow. Let them take that as a further warning to update security.

Barry dashed back up the elevator shaft and braced himself to phase once again, re-appearing on the opposite side of the elevator door on the first floor, a headache beginning to pound at his temples and blood beginning to drip out of his nose. Still, he managed to make it back to the bathroom, change, and check his watch.

One minute and twenty seven seconds. Not bad, Allen.

He wiped off his bloody nose and walked back out of the bathroom, finding Charles and Sawyer talking intensely with the black haired woman Barry had seen earlier, who must be Rita Robbins.

"...and I don't see why you believe we would get ourselves involved in this. It could make us a target for criminal activities." Robbins challenged, not backing down and matching Sawyer glare for glare.

"Because you could be helping put someone behind bars who would otherwise be out harming people of this city." Sawyer argued. Robbins snorted and crossed her arms, somehow managing to look down on Sawyer despite being at least two inches shorter than her.

"We develop technology here at Wayne Tech that will someday save thousands, if not millions of lives, and that depends on the wellbeing, both mental and physical, of it's scientists, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go home and take a nap."

Robbins brushed right past the duo, not looking back as Barry walked up to his...friends? Comrades? Colleagues, let's go with colleagues.

"Sorry about that." The desk man replied sheepishly. "I forgot that she could be like this at the end of her shift. Do you want me to try and see who else might be available?"

"No, but thank you. Have a nice day….Jeff." Barry thanked, taking a peek at the man's name tag, making him beam. Barry strode out of Wayne Tech confidently, with Charles and Sawyer trailing behind him.

"Well that was a total bust." Charles muttered gloomily, kicking an errant pebble down the street. Sawyer, however, was looking at Barry with a suspicious expression.

"What did you get?" She asked him bluntly. Barry tried for an innocent expression, but it clearly didn't fool either of them, and the slightest bit of a devious smirk tugged at his lips.

"Well, it appears that Ms. Robbins was a little more sleep deprived than she thought. She happened to drop this." Barry pulled the flashdrive out of his pocket and showed it to them. "I wonder what's on there? Certainly not records about who did and who didn't show up to work after the robberies, because if that were true then we'd have two names to go after: Mark Lipson and Julia Clay. But of course, it couldn't be that, and the only reason we'd have to take a look at it would be to make sure that it didn't contain some sort of harmful malware so that it wouldn't infect Ms. Robbins's computer, right?"

Sawyer took the flashdrive from him and gave him a look of frank admiration. "You know, Allen." She started. "You just might prove useful."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara was worried for Clark. The moment he had heard the name Luthor, Clark had begun...slipping. The whole ride over he was as jovial as he normally was, cracking jokes and exchanging banter with practically everyone they passed. But Kara had glanced over at him when the Luthor's building came into view, and his face had gone flat and hard. It had only lasted a moment before they continued in, but Kara couldn't help but note that Clark's affable demeanor was cracking.

"There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I was not onboard the Venture yesterday." Lena Luthor defended, her tone neutral and not hostile, leading Kara and Clark into her office without looking back at them.

"Well, that's what we're here to find out." Clark said mildly, a charming smile on his face as they were lead into Lena's office, somehow allowed to do so without any guards being around.

"There was an emergency regarding the planning for an important ceremony I'm holding tomorrow. I'm renaming my family's company, and I had to cancel." Lena explained smoothly, her heels clicking on the polished floor as she crossed her office.

"Quite lucky." Clark remarked. Even though Lena was turned away from them to put up her coat, the suspicion was still clear in her tone, and Kara noticed a solid bar of tension forming in the woman's shoulders.

Despite that, Lena turned around and met Clark's smile with one of her own. "Lucy is Superman saving the day."

Clark laughed politely, his eyes still cold behind his glasses. "Not something someone would expect a Luthor to say."

"And Supergirl was there, too." Kara cut in. She had been there first, she should get some of the credit!...Granted, she had only gotten there sooner since she lived closer to where the craft was falling, but the point still stood.

Lena looked at Kara as if noticing her for the first time, and a slightly amused smile came to her face. "And who are you, exactly?" She asked Kara, walking over to her desk. Somehow, the question seemed genuinely curious rather than condescending.

Kara exchanged a worried glance with Clark. She had planned to mostly stay quiet and let him handle the actual talking, and they had not come up with a proper reason for her to be there beyond Clark and her being cousins, which she couldn't reveal.

"I, uh, I'm Kara Danvers. I'm not actually with the Daily Planet. I'm with CatCo magazine." Kara hesitated. "Sort of."

Lena poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher on her desk, snorting indelicately. "Forgive me, put that's not a publication known for it's hard-hitting journalism. More like, 'High-Waisted Jeans, Yes or No?'."

Kara...couldn't really dispute that. "I'm just tagging along for the day. Learning the ropes and all that." She tried. Lena seemed to accept it and her eyes flickered down to some of the paperwork on her desk. The stress that she was trying to hide multiplied in that one instant.

"Can we just speed this interview along, please? Just ask me what you want to ask me, Mr. Kent." Lena asked, a slight edge to her voice. "You want to know if I had anything to do with the Venture explosion."

Both Clark and Kara were taken aback by her directness, and Lena took the moment of silence to turn her attention to her paperwork. Clark regained his voice and dropped his personable grin. "Did you?"

Lena's attention returned to them, and she gave Clark a pointed look. "You wouldn't be asking me this if my name was Smith."

"Ah, but it's not. It's Luthor." Clark said bluntly. For a moment, he seemed to slip outside of being Clark Kent, and Superman met Lena's gaze without flinching.

Lena pushed back from her paperwork and smirked up at the most powerful man in the universe. "There's some steel underneath that Kansas what." She mused admiringly. Kara almost snorted, and Clark, despite his efforts, smirked back at her.

"It wasn't always. I was adopted when I turned four. The person who made me feel most at home was Lex." Lena's eyes seemed to fix on something behind Kara. A brief check over Kara's shoulder showed that her gaze was focused on an impressive antique chessboard. "He made me proud to be a Luthor." Lena continued.

A sardonic smile lit Lena's face, and she turned away from the chessboard to stare out the window at National City."And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis, declaring war on Superman, committing unspeakable crimes."

Kara tuned out the business woman for a moment to peer over the rims of her glasses and activated her x-ray vision to scan the office. There was nothing out of the ordinary, not even a hidden copy of a steamy romance novel like Winn had in his desk.

"When Superman put Lex in jail, I vowed to take my family's company back, to re-name it L-Corp. Make it a force of good.I'm just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family." Lena concluded firmly. Clark and Kara exchanged glances, and Kara couldn't tell whether Clark was convinced or even slightly shaken. "Can you understand that?"

Lena looked Kara directly in the eye, and she found herself nodding along, glancing at Clark out of the corner of her eyes. "Yeah." She muttered.

"Well, anyways, I know why you're here." The moment passed, and Lena was a businesswoman again. "A subsidiary of my company made the part on the Venture that exploded." Lena stood and pulled a flash drive out of her desk, offering it to Clark. "This drive has all the information we have on the oscillator. I hope it helps with the investigation."

Clark glanced between the flash drive and Kara, clear confusion on his face before re-composing himself. "Thank you."

Lena expressed no emotion. "Give me a chance, Mr. Kent. I'm here for a fresh start. Let me have one." There was no note of pleading in her voice, no sign of weakness, but that somehow didn't make it seem less sincere, and Clark gave her a slight smile.

"Good day, Ms. Luthor." He turned and left, leaving Kara and Lena alone. Kara hesitated for a moment. The woman before her reminded her of Cat Grant, a strong female trying hard in the world, fighting against different things. Ms. Grant fought against a lack of respect and influence, while Lena fought against her brother's influence.

Lena raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Ms. Danvers?"

"Nothing...good day." Kara concluded hastily, feeling odd saying something so formal, and following Clark out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry and company arrived to find the apartment building engulfed in flames. The fire department had just recently arrived, and were battling the fire with hoses, and there was a small group of scared and charred but mostly uninjured people around. Barry scanned the crowd as fast as he could, but didn't see anyone matching the description of Mark Lipson, whose apartment was likely in flames at this point.

Sawyer barely managed to fit in between two cars as she hopped out and stared at the building, eyes flickering between the small crowd and the burning building. For a brief moment, a look of anguish appeared on her face, and Barry noticed her staring at a small girl nursing a large second degree burn on her arm, the most injured of the group.

A pained cry from the building managed to make it all the way to their position, and the firefighters were still suiting up in their flame-retardant gear. Smoke inhalation or burns would kill the person who screamed before they managed to get there.

The Speed Force flickered through Flash's veins, blooming into an electrical storm inside him. He could have tried to put out the fire immediately by sucking away the oxygen with a tornado, but that would risk killing everyone still fire had apparently started on the bottom floor, and all of the entrances couldn't be entered without slowing down significantly to maneuver through, and he couldn't phase through without possibly draining himself dry again. A brief look around revealed that there was a four story building next to the apartment building, which was five.

Flash blitzed over to the next building and ran up the side of the wall, pulling a tight circle and leaping off of the roof, slamming into and through a window of the apartment building. Already he could feel smoke inhalation begin to cloud his mind, and his body reflexively tugged on more of the Speed Force to heal him. He had, at max, thirty seconds.

Seventeen seconds in and Flash had managed to transport eight people to the roof of the next building, and every floor has been searched except the first floor, which had suffered the most damage. Flash took a few milliseconds to take a breath as he deposited an unconscious man outside, then plunged back into the building.

The roof was crumbling in slow motion around him, fire engulfing almost every available surface. His suit was holding up to an extent he hadn't predicted, but he could feel the exposed skin on his face begin to blister and tear away from the heat. Flash blitzed in and out of every room he could, finding no one, but he noticed he was apparently getting closer to the fire's point of origin, given the increasing intensity of the flames.

Flash flickered into the last room and found that almost everything was ash, including the burned remains of a person whose condition was even worse than the surrounding room, and from his position looked to have been standing near the door when he had died, perhaps running from something.

Flash took a scant few milliseconds to duck outside the door and look at the barley intact remains of the door. The metal numbers affixed to the outside were nearly charred to oblivion, but he could make out the numbers 124. Charles had done a search on Mark Lipson, and found that his apartment number had been listed as room 124. The man inside was Lipson, and given the damage, Flash felt safe assuming that he had been killed by Heat Gun.

There was nothing more Flash could do, and the floor was beginning to spin underneath him. He got out of the building at twenty one seconds, stood on the roof surrounded by the people he had rescued, and hesitated.

If he stayed longer, he risked having Sawyer and Charles notice his absence, and given the slowly dawning amazed looks on the faces around him, people had noticed that it was a superhero that had saved them. Those two were smart, they could connect Barry Allen and the Flash if he was too obvious.

But even if there weren't any people in the building any longer, those people still had various possessions inside that would take a lot of money to replace, and they were sure to have attachments to things as well. Barry knew how important having a piece of your past was after tragedy.

Flash began to rotate his arms as fast as he could, and soon twin tornado had formed around his arms, greedily pulling at the flames, leeching the oxygen out of them. It only took a few seconds to complete, but people down on the ground were already pointing, and a few were even snapping pictures. The Flash flickered away, and re-appeared behind Charles and Sawyer as they staring at the building with numb hoped that their lack of attention would extend to the gust of wind that accompanied his reappearance.

"Who was that guy?" Barry asked, injecting as much incredulity as he could into his voice.

"I...I don't know." For once, Charles seemed to be at a loss for words, and Sawyer didn't seem much better. But they both knew one thing. There was a new superhero in National City.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

"I didn't see anything when I x-ray-visioned the room." Clark reported, idly kicking a rock as they walked through the streets of National City. Kara wondered how controlled he had to be at all times to not slip up. Kara struggled to not rip people's arms off when high-fiving, meanwhile Clark could have easily sent that stray piece of rock hurtling across the continent, but he didn't even appear to be concentrating on avoiding doing so.

"Yeah, I didn't see anything either. What do you think, is she still a suspect?" Kara asked. Lena had certainly seemed genuine, and her story had touched Kara more than she wanted to admit to Clark.

Clark sighed and shook his head. "I've learned first-hand that it's dangerous to believe anything a Luthor says."

"You know, I'm not a reporter or anything, but I kind of believed her." She said hesitantly. Clark sensed her obvious discomfort and gave her a reassuring look and opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of a phone ringing filled the air.

Clark pulled his phone out of his pocket, and a grin captured his face that he didn't seem to notice as he put it up to his ear. "Hey, sweetie." He greeted. "Yeah, I'm with Kara."

Kara tried her best to turn her hearing down, but she still caught snippets of Lois's concerned voice coming from the device.

"Yes, I'm being careful." Clark rolled his eyes but didn't stop smiling, and Kara laughed openly. Lois knew that her boyfriend was borderline invencible, but she still worried about him. It was sweet, in an amusing way. "I miss you too. Love you, bye."

"I love that she worries about you." Kara confessed.

"Yeah, me too. There's something comforting about knowing somebody can worry about both Clark Kent and Superman." Clark admitted freely, seemingly unconcerned with the possibility of being overheard. Kara looked over her shoulder and found that they were far enough away no one could hear, which Clark had clearly known.

Kara shook her head and tried to suppress a sudden bitter smile. "How do you do it all, Clark?" She asked, a touch of helplessness in her voice. Things had been so hectic lately, and Clark dealt with things like this just as often as she did, but he seemed to weather it all with that ever-present smile. It was simultaneously infuriating and awe-inspiring.

Clark gave her a confused look, but stayed silent, letting her continue.

"You're an amazing reporter, a great boyfriend, and Superman. I mean, I love being Supergirl, that part of my life is clear, but the rest of it…" Her new job, a Daxamite showing up, the existence of a multiverse, beating Non, her new relationship with James, her...confusion about Barry, it was overwhelming. She kept thinking she would deal with things when the world stopped changing, but that didn't seem to be anytime soon.

"You mean Jimmy?" Clark asked knowingly. Kara stared at him with disbelief. They had only started really dating two days ago, how did he….?

"How'd you know about that?" She demanded.

"It's super telepathy. It's a power you'll get someday, really comes in handy." Clark said casually. Kara's stomach dropped out. If telepathy was anything like her other powers, she would be subjected to everyone's thoughts on a regular basis for months, maybe even years.

"Really?"

"No. Jimmy and I are friends. We talk." Clark reassured her, seemingly oblivious to the relief that gave her.

"Bet that wasn't awkward at all." Kara muttered.

"Talking to your best friend about how he wants to be with your cousin while he's still committed to another woman? Yeah. Relationship drama is a surprisingly big issue with superheroes." Clark admitted.

Kara snorted, but secretly agreed. Things would have just been so much simpler if she didn't have any problems beyond punching the next bad guy. Or girl.

"For so long, I kept my head down and moved forward, and life was simple." Kara explained. "And now I have all these options. An amazing guy and any job I want and I'm just...stuck."

Clark waited for a moment, but Kara didn't continue. "You know, I've been where you are, trying to be both Clark Kent and Superman."

"But you make it look so easy." Kara complained.

"Well, it wasn't always. It's still not." Clark denied. He gave her a serious look from behind his glasses. "Look, all I know is that being Kara is just as important as being Supergirl. It took me a long time to realize that about myself, because I was Clark Kent first, and Superman second, but being a superhero seemed so much more important. You need to find a balance."

"Fine a balance." Kara repeated. She repeated it a few more times to herself, but it didn't spark some new understanding in her, and her frustration showed. Clark pulled her into a hug and gave her a sympathetic smile, continuing to walk down the street.

"Trust yourself Kara, and listen to your heart. If things are right with James, you'll know." He advised. The two walked in silence for a little bit, and then Clark gave her a squeeze and let go. It wasn't gentle by human standards, in fact it would likely have turned her into a red puddle had she been normal, but it was strangely more reassuring.

"Is advice giving another power that I'll develop someday? Sounds pretty handy." Kara needled her cousin. Clark laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry, but that's something that comes from maturity, not just from being Kryptonian. It also helps that most of that was stolen from things Lois told me at some point." Clark admitted. "You know, I'm actually a little jealous."

Kara almost stopped walking to properly give Clark a look of disbelief. He was giving her advice on something that he had long since figured out, and he was jealous? "That doesn't make any sense."

Clark shrugged, looking unrepentant. "When I came to Metropolis and started being Superman, no one knew both of my identities. There was a whole section of my life that I felt unsupported, and I compensated by trying to handle everything myself. Both of us have people to help us with our secret identities now, but I just tried to make Clark Kent the anti-Superman."

Kara recalled some of Eliza's stories about Clark Kent as a young man in Metropolis, shy and submissive. The Clark in front of her was polite and personable, but wasn't the doormat that Clark occasionally joked he had been. "What changed?"

"Well, Lois found out. To be honest, I'm not sure when I would have told her, but all of a sudden I didn't have to be Superman or Clark. I could be both with her." Clark admitted. "I just hope that that's who James can be for you. Someone you can be Kara Danvers and Supergirl with."

Kara nodded, taking in the information and appreciating the sentiment, but her mind felt elsewhere. "I do too." She agreed as they continued to walk through the streets of National City. She wondered what Barry was up to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry had forgotten how much he didn't like talking to the media. It was a dislike that had started when multiple newspapers had talked to him about his mother's death. Despite his claims that his father had not killed his mother, those comments never made it into the articles. It was always something along the lines of 'their young son, Bartholomew Allen, was distraught and unable to answer clearly'. Having a crush and dating two separate reporters had helped him see that not all reporters were bad, in fact a lot of them were good.

These were not those kind of reporters.

"Detective Sawyer, do you have anything to say about the man who put out the fire and saved those people?" A pretty raven-haired reporter practically shoved the microphone into Sawyer's face, with another woman focusing her camera on the irritated police woman.

"No comment."

"Given the descriptions of wearing blue and red, do you believe that this man is affiliated with Supergirl?" The reporter continued undaunted.

"No. Comment." Sawyer gave the woman a dangerous smile that reminded Barry of the ones Alex gave people, and the woman backed off, turning around and gesturing to her camerawoman before going off to interview someone else, leaving Barry, Charles and Sawyer to retreat to the car.

"So...what are the odds that Lipson barbequed himself playing with the Heat Gun?" Charles asked, eyes lingering on all the people who had gathered outside.

Sawyer shrugged did her best not the glance back at the crowd. "We won't know until the fire department declares it safe to enter, but I'd say it's a definite possibility. But…."

"But?" Barry prompted. He had been trying to figure out a way to tell them that Lipson had been killed via Heat Gun, but Sawyer was sharp. Maybe she could figure it out.

"It's also possible that Lipson was actually a victim here, rather than the instigator." Sawyer continued, eyes narrowed in thought. "If he's a scientist who worked with the Heat Gun, then he would know how dangerous it is, and know not to play with it. Why even bring it to his apartment in the first place? What would be his motivation?"

"But why?" Charles asked in confusion. "If we assume that someone did kill him via Heat Gun, that someone being the only other suspect we have, why kill him?"

Barry snapped his fingers, bringing their attention to him. "Getting rid of the evidence." He said grimly. "You have someone steal something for you, then they're the only person that knows that you have the stolen item. Then you kill them and voila, everyone who knows you have it is dead." That was exactly what Leonard Snart had done upon obtaining the Cold Gun, icing the man that had stolen it for him. It made perfect sense.

But Sawyer shook her head. "That might work, but if we were to assume Clay had Lipson steal it for her so that it wouldn't be traced back to her, then why would she not come into work? We only have her as a suspect because she did that, and if she were the kind to orchestrate this whole thing just to get her hands on the Heat Gun, why would she slip up in such an obvious way?"

That stumped Barry, but suddenly all of the color bled out of Charles's face and the normally fidgety man became completely still. "Sawyer, did you get an autopsy report on the body we found earlier yet?" He asked, obviously trying to keep his tone calm and failing.

"Nothing conclusive, the dental records haven't come back yet." Sawyer reported, looking at Charles with concern. "Why, what's wrong?"

"What about general things? Height, age, sex?"

Sawyer fished her phone out of her pocket and sent off a quick text, and Barry's stomach began to sink as he realized what Charles was implying.

"Woody says that she was around 5' 7'' and probably early thirties." Sawyer reported. Charles turned to Barry mechanically.

"What was the bio on Julia Clay say her age and height were?"

" She was thirty two and just under 5' 7''." Barry repeated, his mind darting back to the flashdrive he had stolen.

Sawyer stuffed her phone in her pocket and gave the two of them a deathly serious look. "So you think that the body we found is Julia Clay." It wasn't a question.

"It's a possibility."

Sawyer sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Get in the car." She ordered. "We're going to Julia Clay's place."

"And if she's not there?" Barry asked, hoping against hope that she would be.

"Then we start looking for a serial killer."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of a gun going off is fairly distinctive, even to someone without super-hearing. But Superman and Supergirl didn't focus on the actual sound of the gun going off, because by the time the bullet was exiting the chamber, they only had a fraction of a second to change into their outfits and move in front of the bullet, and even at super speed, that could cut it kind of close, especially if they needed to travel quite a bit of distance. So they had learned to focus on the sound of a bullet entering the chamber, which gave them at least 0.1 extra seconds.

And that was all they needed.

Superman and Supergirl flashed in front of the drone just in time for it to fire off several rounds into their chests, ricocheting off harmlessly.

"Ah, I thought you two might show up." An Australian voice came through the drone's speakers. "You spoil all the fun."

"You know, if you were expecting us to show up, you really should have brought something a bit more powerful." Superman remarked. Supergirl quickly scanned the drone, and found to her relief that there was no Kryptonite bullets to challenge Superman's comment.

" I did, I brought my wits. Greatest weapon known to man, Kryptonian or otherwise." The man bragged. "I've drones planted throughout the city targeting civilian populations as we speak. Your choice, aliens. Innocent civilians...or the chopper."

"Go, I've got the chopper." Supergirl ordered her cousin. She turned her gaze to the nearest drone and sent a pulse of solar power to her eyes, sending out twin rays of heat to explode the machine. A hiss of air alerted her to another drone shooting a missile at the chopper, and Supergirl sped in front of it.

The explosion had surprising force, enough to send her hurtling down onto the roof of Luthor Corp, embedding her several inches deep in the concrete. Supergirl groaned in pain, her super hearing only amplifying the ringing in her ears.. She had forgotten that while she might not get burned, explosions were still powerful enough to disorient her.

The sound of bullets hitting metal brought Kara back to herself, as well as the sound of screaming from the chopper. She shot up directly into the drone, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces and flying over to stabilize the vessel, setting it gently on the roof right near the hole she had had made.

Lena Luthor stumbled out of the chopper, hair a mess, barely concealed terror on her face, looking almost nothing like the calm collected woman from before. "What the hell was that?" She demanded.

"Well, in my expert opinion, it looks like someone is trying to kill you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I never thought that gossipy neighbors would be a good thing." Charles tried for humor, but neither Sawyer nor Barry cracked a smile, and Charles wasn't looking much better. Julia's neighbors had indeed been chatty, and had cheerfully informed Charles, Barry and Sawyer(without knowing their affiliation) that they hadn't seen Julia in several days, some slyly commenting they had assumed she had finally gotten a boyfriend.

Which very likely meant that she was the burned body that they had found just earlier that day.

"Do we have any other leads?" Sawyer asked Barry tiredly. Barry had borrowed Charles's laptop and was scrolling through the information for perhaps the fifth time since they had gotten news of Julia's absence, silently chafing at how slow he had to go to keep up appearances.

"Technically yes. There are eight other people that knew about the lab, according to this, and none of them stick out more than the others. Now that Clay and Lipson are dead, they're probably going to go through with whatever it is they had planned for the Heat Gun, so we're unlikely to find it in their house, which we would need a warrant to get into anyway." Barry reported.

"So we have a seven-in-eight chance of just giving it away to our murderer that we're targeting the scientists working in Wayne Tech's secret weapons development lab rather than actually catching them." Sawyer summed up.

Barry took a deep breath. "Basically, yeah." He admitted.

Flash could trail every single person on that list and probably manage to track down the Heat Gun, as well as the guilty party, but where would that leave him? The Flash was nearly revered in Central City, and most of the people he caught didn't go through the legal system, given that they were metas. But if a man or woman suddenly appeared in the police station, with only the Flash's assurance that they were guilty, would the police accept that? Even if they did, a lawyer would be able to use it to spring the murderer because Flash wasn't above reproach. People would suspect him, because he had the power to do what he wanted without repercussions. He could do whatever he wanted and it would never come back to him.

Wait a moment…

"You guys," Barry said carefully. "We may have been looking at this all wrong."

Sawyer gave him a glance that made it seem like she wanted to be hopeful, but wasn't sure if it was a risk worth taking. "How so?"

"We've been thinking of things in terms of who else in the lab would have reason to steal the Heat Gun and then kill their accomplices. But what if who we're looking for wasn't in on it?" Barry asked rhetorically.

Charles crossed his arms. "I don't follow."

"The trail led back to Clay and Lipson perfectly, which now that I think about it is kind of weird. I mean, these two are almost certifiable geniuses, and yet they take days off after committing a crime rather than lying low and diverting suspicion? I was willing to chalk it up to it being their first time committing this sort of crime, after all maybe they got nervous, or guilty, or something else, but now...I'm not sure."

"Then who could it have been?" Charles asked impatiently.

"Someone above suspicion. Somebody that was smart enough to leave a trail covering their tracks if the police ever managed to track the Heat Gun back to Wayne Tech. Somebody that wasn't supposed to know about the weapons manufacturing."

"Great, Allen. That just narrows it down to every person who works at Wayne Tech." Sawyer congratulated sarcastically.

"A person who would have to have found out about the lab somehow, and given the two that were killed, I'd say that our killer probably knew them fairly well, maybe even interacting regularly."

"So, a fellow scientist. That narrows it down to… 142 people." Charles took back his computer to look the information up, still looking hopeless.

"And this person had to have been in the building to kill Lipson, and then left immediately." Barry prompted. Charles frowned and shook his head.

"The minute the fire started people would have been exciting, and it would have looked suspicious to run away with so many people milling around looking at the fire, especially with the firefighters and media personnel around." He pointed out.

"So our killer would have to have been outside in the crowd, which was being televised by the reporters." Barry explained. Sawyer had realized what he was saying half-way through Barry's speech, and had dug out her phone to pull up footage of the fire.

She scanned the video for several minutes, her eyes switching between her phone and the pictures of the scientists Charles's computer displayed. Her eyes went flat and she turned the phone towards them, the video paused on a dark haired woman. "She look familiar?"

Charles groaned even as a victorious light glinted in his eyes. "Well, it figures. Looks like we're going to be paying Rita Robbins a visit."

"I don't think she's just going to confess." Barry mused.

"Well we can't just let her roam around with a Heat Gun, doing whatever she want!" Charles insisted. Sawyer looked conflicted, and it was clear she agreed with both points.

An idea struck Barry, and he vibrated his hand for a brief second, out of their view, making an audible buzzing sound. Time to kill two birds with one stone. "Sorry, I gotta take this…" Barry pulled his hand out of his pocket and held his empty hand up to his ear, turning around and nodding along, making agreeing noises. After a few seconds of fake-talking on the phone, Barry turned around with an apologetic look on his face and stuffing his 'phone' into his pocket.

"You guys, I'm so sorry, I gotta run, one of my friends was in an accident." Barry said mournfully.

Sawyer looked disappointed, but not defeated. Charles didn't try to hide his helpless look. "I can give you a ride." Sawyer offered. "We can't go after Robbins for a while anyway."

"No, it's okay, I'm pretty fast on foot. I'll meet you guys at the police station tomorrow, see if we can get something on Robbins." He jogged away at a slow pace, and rounded a corner, disappearing from view. Almost immediately, he ditched his civilian clothing and circled back around, scooping them up and bringing them up to the roof of a nearby building.

"What the hell? Who are you? What are you doing?" Sawyer immediately pulled her gun out and tried to focus it on Flash, despite the fact that she was rather green. Charles was openly throwing up. Apparently people in this dimension didn't take too kindly to superspeed travelling.

 _"You can call me the Flash. I'm here to help you."_ He assured her, vibrating his face and vocal cords so that neither would recognize him.

"Help us with what? I mean, there's not exactly any more fires for you to put out." Sawyer asked, still not moving her gun off of him.

_"I want to help you with the Rita Robbins investigation. I've been looking into both of the fire incidents, and I overheard you and your friend's explanation while I was patrolling nearby."_

Sawyer scanned him suspiciously as Charles finally finished puking and pulled himself up. "How do you think you can help us?" Sawyer asked finally. Barry grinned, not that they noticed it with the vibrations and all.

_"I think I can get a confession out of her."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Night had fallen on National City by the time that Kara got back to CatCo, and the building was as busy as ever. Ms. Grant didn't believe in letting a single second being wasted, and CatCo employed twice the amount of people they normally would to have a full nighttime staff. Luckily, the person she was looking for had stayed past his normal time.

"Hey, I've been looking for you!" Kara came up alongside James and gave him a winning smile, bulldozing ahead. "So, listen, I know that I've been busy dealing with drone attacks and spaceships...Well, two spaceships actually, but I will not let that get in the way of us having the perfect date. I was thinking maybe Italian food? I mean, I could fly over there…"

"It's okay." James turned to face her, and his expression was unusually serious. "Just admit it, something's changed."

Kara stared at the man, trying to find something to reassure him, but he held up a hand to keep her silent. "And don't tell me I'm wrong, or that I'm imagining things, because I know you." He said firmly.

She couldn't deny what he was saying wasn't true, and she didn't have the heart to lie to him, especially since he could tell when she did. No words came to her, and she hoped that he could somehow just feel what she wanted to say.

But that wasn't how the world worked, and James was no less concerned. "I thought this is what you wanted." James said gently.

"It was." Kara tried. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but something had changed. Maybe it having nearly sacrificed herself to save the Earth, maybe it was the idea that there was another Kryptonian, or maybe...maybe it was Barry.

By which she meant finding out about the multiverse. Of course. Obviously.

"And what do you want now?" James prompted. That question didn't require a lot of thought.

"I don't know." Kara admitted. It wasn't the answer that he wanted to hear. Heck, it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. It she knew what she wanted, this would be a lot easier.

"Well, it's honest at least." James muttered, a tinge of bitterness in his voice. He didn't say anything else, but turned and left, leaving Kara alone and confused in the middle of the hallway.

"MS. TESSMACHER!" Ms. Grant's cry ripped through CatCo. It spoke to how often she did that lately that no one even flinched, merely directing sympathetic looks to Eve as she rushed out of Ms. Grant's office in tears. Kara sighed and walked right past her into Ms. Grant's office.

"That woman cries more than Halle Berry at award shows." Ms. Grant dismissed.

"If you dislike her so much, why don't you just fire her? Normally you'd ax an assistant the second they brought you a latte one degree off." Kara demanded. Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow at her, but Kara didn't take it back. Ms. Grant knew what she wanted, she just didn't take it, and Kara couldn't understand that. Frustration mounted within her, nearly spilling out at the seams.

"Oh, Ker-rah." Ms. Grant sighed. It wasn't a condescending sigh, or a pitying sigh, but one of actual exhaustion. "I don't even know what normal is anymore."

"Ms. Grant, what's wrong?" Kara asked.

Ms. Grant turned and swirled the generous dollop of whiskey around in her glass, her gaze distant. "What could be wrong?" She echoed. "I have followed every one of my passions, I've achieved everything I've ever wanted to achieve, and I'm at the very top of my game."

Kara wasn't sure if Ms. Grant realized that, while every proclamation rang with certainty and confidence, her mood had noticeably soured. Kara opened her mouth to comfort her boss, but suddenly Ms. Grant's tone was sharp, and her eyes were focused.

"The question is, Ker-rah, what the hell is wrong with you? You're young, brilliant, and you have the world at your feet. You have the man you've been pining for, any job you wish for, and you stand there blinking like a doe in the headlights. Frozen, your time to move ticking away."

Kara didn't even try to fight what Ms. Grant was saying, and her description of how Kara was handling things was better than she could have put herself. "You know...you're right, Ms. Grant. In some areas of my life, I feel confident and strong, but there there's every other area. Career, love… I just don't know what to do." She confessed.

Ms. Grant didn't even blink. "Dive."

"Um...do you mean, like, into a lake?" It wouldn't be the first time Ms. Grant would have told her to do so, granted this was the first time without copious expletives.

"You're standing on the shore, afraid to dive into the new waters, and you're afraid because you don't want to say goodbye to the mild mannered, lovelorn Kara Danvers, the sweet and dutiful assistant to Cat Grant. You are standing there, looking out at your options, the icy blue waters, the fast-flowing river, and the choppy sea."

Ms. Grant's normally harsh tone was soft, almost gentle, and Kara found herself almost picturing what she was describing, sinking down onto one of the office's sofas, just listening to her mentor.

" All these options look appealing, because you're dying to go for a swim, but you know that water is going to be cold and the journey is going to be hard, and when you reach the other side you will have become a new person, and you are scared of that new version of yourself. We all get used to our own personas and we're all used to our own comfort zones, but… in order to live, we must keep daring. Keep diving."

By the end of her speech, Ms. Grant had sat beside Kara, waiting for her reaction. Kara nodded numbly, processing the information. Something had become very apparent to her. "Thank you, Ms. Grant."

"You have 12 hours, 13 minutes and four seconds. Tick-tock."

Kara struggled between snorting in amusement and sighing in exasperation, and decided on neither. She gave Ms. Grant a smile and left, her smile falling as she focused on what she now needed to do. First, she needed to talk to Lena Luthor and get her to not to go to the re-naming ceremony. But after that...she needed to talk to James.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She really should have been an actress, Rita thought numbly to herself, rather than getting her doctorate. It had been less than 24 hours since she had committed her first crime, namely breaking and entering, and people hadn't even asked if something was wrong with her. Granted, that may have been because she was normally so pissy, but still.

Rita's stomach clenched into a hard note as her thoughts returned to the break-in. The building's security was top notch, but between her brains, Julia's boldness, and Mark's surprising knowledge of how to get away with crimes, they had managed to pull it off.

They had taken one of everything. Enhanced body armor, recallable projectiles, a device that could summon a swarm of bats(for some reason), the works.

Things had gone off perfectly. The only thing that gone wrong was with that damned Fire Blaster.

Rita had been shaking from dry heaves for several hours after throwing up immediately after getting home. She didn't know if she had been capable of going out, but she walked down to Herb Garden, just as she always did did on Tuesdays. To do otherwise would be suspicious, and might bring focus to her.

She was walking home from her apartment when a sudden gust of wind nearly knocked her over, her doggy bag spilling its contents all over the ground. Any other day it would have upset her, but it summoned no emotion in her now, and she continued walking.

Another gust of wind hit her, and she was had to stumble about to regain her footing, coming dangerously close to face-planting. As she stood up straight again, she could have sworn she saw a flash of something blue out of the corner of her eye.

The third gust of wind didn't take her by surprise, and her fingers almost brushed against something. The blur was more visible this time, and it lead into a construction zone across the street.

Some part of her wished that she had brought one of those returning projectiles with her, but her attention was more captured by a flicker of curiosity, a bare ember of it's normal intensity, but still something. It was good to feel anything after what had happened.

No fourth gust of wind was needed to prompt her further. She ducked under the wooden fence and began to wander around, but there was no movement.

_"Hello, Rita Robbins."_

Rita had once read a book that had claimed that up was the direction everyone checked the least, and now considered it proven. A man dressed in a blue suit with a red mask stared down at her from above, perched on top of the precarious structure half-built beneath him. She couldn't make out his face, as if it was constantly shifting, which seemed to negate the need for a mask.

"I guess you managed to get into the underground lab somehow?" Rita asked blandly.

_"...what?"_

"It was you that was in the elevator with me as I was leaving, right? I thought it was a trick of the light, seeing a blue blur suddenly come at me and disappear, and maybe even the elevator shook at the same time, but you showing up at the apartment complex afterwards, saving people with superspeed? Yeah, that tipped me off."

Despite the fact that she stood no chance against him, Rita thought she saw the man tense up, and she wondered if he thought that she was stupid enough to bring the Fire Blaster with her to pick up food.

 _"Why did you do it?"_ He asked finally. Rita would have laughed if she still had it in her.

"Why did I do it?" She echoed. There was a deep tug in her chest, and suddenly emotion flooded her, tears beginning to burn in her eyes. "I did it because it was the right thing to do!"

One again the man paused, obviously confused. " _How is stealing a Heat Gun and killing your partners the right thing to do?"_

Heat Gun was a better name than Fire Blaster, some part of her brain acknowledged. But most of her was being violently wretched back into the memories of the past day, bile rising in her throat.

"Because those weapons were going to kill people, not save people." Rita said bitterly. Her fingernails, chewed to the stub, still drew a line of blood as they bit into her hands. "Mark and Julia were terrible at keeping secrets, especially when they thought something was wrong. They told me about the lab, told me about everything they were developing, and I did some research. That tech wasn't going to the police forces, they weren't being given to the military. They were sent through so many false systems that even I lost track. Now, I'll admit, I know a lot of things, and one of those things I know is that corrupt businessmen have no problem with selling weapons to our countries enemies, which would be used to kill people, not save them!"

_"So you thought the best way to fix that would be to steal them? Too bad you only got the Heat Gun."_

"You must not have taken a very close look at the inventory, did you? There were dozens of practically everything, and most of it had been shipped back to Gotham. The only thing that there was only one of was the...Heat Gun."

_"Then why did you steal it?"_

A sardonic laugh almost bubbled in Rita's throat. "I didn't want to. We stole one of everything so that we could give it to the FBI, the CIA, whoever, as proof that our CEO has been illegally selling dangerous weapons to other countries. But Mark wanted to take the Heat Gun too, he'd been the one to work on it personally, he didn't want anyone else to get their hands on it. So we took that too, even though we knew it would alert the authorities if they found out about the underground lab."

The man went completely silent for several long seconds, and then suddenly he was standing only a few feet from her, and his face had stopped shifting. The low light and the mask still made her unable to see him clearly, but she supposed it was a symbol of trust. Or that he was just moving closer to take her and drop her in a jail cell.

 _"Then why did you murder your partners?"_ He asked, his voice still disguised.

"I didn't." She said bluntly.

 _"You've practically admitted to everything, you're the only one left standing, and I found the Heat Gun in your apartment."_ The superhero said in disbelief.

"It was Julia. She got ansty right away and called me, wanted to return everything, wanted to confess. She didn't have the nerve, and I couldn't reach her in the morning. The next thing I knew, a detective had showed up and told me they found a body that was cooked extremely well done, and given their suspicion, it was probably done by the Heat Gun. Which Mark still had."

 _"You went to the apartment to confront him."_ It wasn't a question, and she could see a horrified realization fill his eyes.

"I know why he did it. He didn't want to go to jail, didn't want to spend the rest of his life in a cell. I just couldn't see how he had tracked down one of his best friends and killed her in cold blood. He was manic when I found him, drinking, raving at nothing. I tried to take the gun away from him, and he attacked me. He had been fiddling with it, why I'll never find out, but the safety function had been completely disabled, and the trigger was more sensitive. He died."

_"Why didn't you turn yourself in? If someone connected the dots, they would think you're a serial killer."_

"Because I still have to find a way to take that son-of-a-bitch down." Rita bit out. "They will not have died in vain, I will bring him down!"

_"...what if I could bring him down for you?"_

"Why would you do that?" Rita asked, caught off guard.

_"Because a friend of mine has done a lot of bad things, witnessed the death of his friends. He believes that people need to mourn, need time to heal, and you can't do that while constantly trying to bring down the CEO of Wayne Tech. So I'll investigate, and if need be, I'll bring him in. But you need help, and Clay and Lipson's families need to know what happened to them."_

Rita's eyes finally caught on something that she should have seen from the beginning, but was too wrapped up in her own memories to notice. A small metal device, barely larger than a penny, stuck to the side of his emblem on his chest.

"That's the newest in distance recording, isn't it? Forgive me, I don't know it's name, but it's good enough to record a confession from, say, one story up?"

The superhero didn't looked embarrassed, didn't show any emotion really, but all of the anger whoosed out of Rita like a punctured balloon, but one question would not leave her alone. "If you have my confession anyway, why give me a choice?"

_"Because I want you to make the choice for yourself."_

The man made no move to apprehend her, and actually seemed sincere. It almost made her laugh, but, given the circumstances, it didn't seem appropriate.

"Well, if I'm going into custody anyway, I'd rather have a superhero think well of me." Rita said finally. She couldn't run, he was too fast, and she had foolishly blurted out everything that had happened into a wire. There wasn't much else she could do.

In the blink of an eye, she was in cuffs. They didn't bite into her wrists, but it wasn't comfortable either, and the masked man gave her what may have been a sympathetic look.

"Dammit, Speedy, I'm the one who has to put the cuffs on her." A familiar voice said irritatedly from behind her. Turning her head she saw Maggie Sawyer, the same detective who had come to Wayne Tech earlier. It all clicked into place, and she turned back to the man, seeing that his face was once again vibrating. That made sense, considering that he had been working with them just a few short hours before.

 _"Sorry about that, Detective."_ The man said, a smile upturning his lips. _"And my name's not Speedy. It's the Flash."_ With that, another gust of wind hit Rita, and the Flash was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara hated explosives. Some of the cruder or more powerful ones had loud tells, like ticking or beeping, but a lot of them were fairly silent, with little to tip her off to something dangerous being in the area unless she swept the place with her x-ray vision, which she hadn't done because she was trying to talk Lena out of doing this whole thing in the first place.

Her reward were the sounds of explosions ripping through the air as multiple bombs went off surrounding the area where Lena had just finished giving her speech, resulting in everyone immediately screaming and fleeing the area.

Kara took a few scant milliseconds to transform into Supergirl, then landed beside James, who was helping a fallen woman. He didn't need her help lifting the woman up, but she got there just in time for a large chunk of concrete to slam into her back, coating the two in a fine dust. "Go!" She ordered.

The sound of bombs further away drew her attention to a nearby skyscraper with smoke thickening the air around it, the building gaining a noticeable tilt to it. Kara narrowly avoided slamming to the building, instead trying her best to stabilize it.

A whoosh of air, and Superman was by her side, further helping stabilize the building. "You're late." She remarked.

"Sorry, there was some bad traffic." Clark joked.

"Kara, Corben took out the southwest retaining column, basically targeting the building's one weak spot, which you think would be better protected… Just like the one perfectly placed shot that blew up the Death Star." Winn reported through her comms.

"I do not need a Star Wars reference right now, Winn!"

"But do you need your handy neighborhood speedster on hand? How can I help, Winn?" Barry's voice from her comms was utterly unexpected, given that Winn had said he had disappeared early in the morning.

"Mr. Allen, where the hell have you been? Wait, nevermind, you need to repair the building." J'onn commanded. Kara's eyes locked on a shipment of metal support beams several stories down...and also a blur of blue entering and exiting the building at high speeds, going so fast she couldn't keep up.

She flew down and grabbed the support beams, certain that Barry must be evactuating the building, and went down to the sub-level to find...nothing wrong.

The column that had been damaged now had a bumpy steel filling to it, looking as if had been fused together out of pieces of steel, but it was holding. In a flash, Barry was standing in front of her, holding some sort of odd red pistol.

"There's a construction lot near here that has a lot of spare metal plates. I just stacked them up and bonded them together with the Heat Gun." Barry grinned at her.

"Oh." Kara mutttered in surprise. She tried to set the beams down gently, but they still clattered to the floor. "Well, we need to catch Corben before he tries to kill Lena or hurt Alex."

"Is Corben an Australian guy, super aggressive, weird haircut?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, he was fighting Alex earlier so I tied him to a poll. He should be in either the police or the DEO's custody by now."

Kara blinked in surprise, just in time for Superman to fly down through the entrance and wrap her in a bone-breaking hug, even for her. "Kara, you did it!" He pulled back and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Er, actually, I didn't do it. Barry did." The words felt oddly heavy to say. Superman gave Barry a surprised look, his gaze drifting back to the reparied column. Superman walked over to Barry and gave him a serious look, and Barry looked decidedly uncomfortable. Then Superman clapped a hand on his shoulder and jostled the smaller man good-naturedly, a grin on his face.

"You do that uniform proud, Barry."

The sound of screams caught all three's attention, and they zipped outside to find Corben on the ground being handcuffed, and Lena Luthor on the ground, as well as another cop, both groaning in pain. Kara's heart leapt into her throat, but both appeared uninjured, just minor bruises.

Corben spat curses at all of them as he was dragged away from everyone, swearing revenge on the name of Luthor, which was promptly ignored by the only bearer of that name.

"What happened here?" Superman asked in concern, helping both the officer and Lena up.

"Corben broke through the ropes and tried to shoot the officer that ran at him, but Luthor pushed him out of the way. She barely avoided being shot." One of the officers reported, staring at Lena with shock.

Lena brushed herself off and tried to regain a composed demeanor, and somehow succeeding. "Well, you were willing to die to protect me, it was only fair I take that chance too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Day 7_

Barry woke up groggily, much as he always did. Increased neuron firing speed didn't help him wake up in the morning, and, just as every morning, he cursed his inability to caffeinate himself. He shuffled uncomfortably, his body aching…

And brushed up against something.

Barry froze, and took a mental inventory. He was in another universe and had no contact with any of his ex-girlfriends, nor would he ever call them and invite them over. He couldn't get drunk, which pretty much ruined going to bars to meet girls, so that was out too.

He looked down and saw a mess of blonde hair, and a loud snoring rattled a few inches away from his face. Kara.

Barry's heart began pumping faster than it had even when he was staring down Zoom. What had happened last night? Holy crap, what had happened last night?

Kara shifted, and Barry felt fabric rubbing against fabric. He was wearing clothes. She was wearing clothes. Barry flushed deep red as he recalled what had happened last night. Both had been so exhausted from the day that they had stumbled into the apartment and fallen asleep on the couch, sitting apart from each other. Nothing had happened.

Of course nothing happened. Nothing could have happened. He was a fool to think otherwise.

Barry moved as slowly as possible(a novel experience for him) to untangle himself from Kara, hopefully without waking her up or brushing his...morning problem against her. He quickly retreated to the kitchen to make some breakfast, the kind that only he and Kara could possibly finish in one sitting, pushing down the embarrassment that would not leave him alone.

Kara jerked awake as her alarm went on in the other room, cracking the arm of the sofa, making Barry glad he had gotten up when he had.

"Good morning, sleepy." Barry greeted her cheerfully. Kara mumbled something inaudibly and shuffled off to the bathroom, shutting the door sharply. Barry chuckled, despite knowing that she could hear him. For all her normal peppiness, early in the morning Kara was basically a zombie.

She emerged by the time Barry had finished frying up his twentieth omelette, and for some reason wouldn't meet his gaze. Barry set the omelette on the table and Kara immediately dug in.

"So...how do you afford all this food?" Barry asked curiously. He didn't have to pay rent, living with Joe, so most of his expenses went into food, but Kara had a nice apartment in what was basically uptown New York.

"Alex and Eliza helped prep me for finances after seeing how much Clark eats. It's a delicate balance." Kara muttered, speaking more to her omelette than to him.

Barry quickly ate a few omelettes in the space of a few seconds. "Well, I've gotta head out. See you at the DEO later?"

"Yeah, sure." Kara muttered. "Have a good time."

Barry hesitated, about to ask what was the matter, but then Kara's phone rang and she bolted up. "I've got to go, got a meeting with Lena." She said quickly. She somehow managed to get dressed and grab her things and leave before he did, leaving him alone in her apartment.

"...See you later then." Barry muttered to the empty apartment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lena Luthor sighed in contentment as she held up the newspaper, displaying the title A Bright Future for L-Corp, by Clark Kent on the front. It detailed the whole situation with Corben, how Lex had hired him to take out the Venture, how he had sent the drones to attack her helicopter, and finally, how Lena Luthor had managed to save a cop that he was trying to attack by putting herself in harm's way.

"I called you here to say thank you, Mr. Kent. After yesterday's attack, this sort of good publicity is just what my company needs. And it'll teach Lex that I'm not afraid of putting myself in harm's way." She thanked him. Kara smiled at the woman, noticing that Lena had chosen not the cover up the purple bruise high on her forehead from the fall with makeup, like a badge of honor.

"Well, that's not why I wrote it. I wrote it because it was true. I was wrong about you, and I'm sorry." Clark apologized, a sincere smile on his face.

"Well, if I can make a believer out of Clark Kent, there's hope yet." Lena remarked. "And what about you, Ms. Danvers? I didn't see your name on the byline."

"Uh...well like I had said, I'm not a reporter." Kara reminded her, a tad confused. She hadn't even put that much effort into pretending she was a reporter.

"Well you could have fooled me." Lena said, smiling. "I hope we can meet again at some point."

Kara nodded, and found herself smiling too, her mind going over what Lena had just said, a feeling of hope rising in her chest. "I hope so too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Barry jogged into the National City Police Department to find Sawyer and Charles waiting for him.

"Hey, guys. You ready to try and take down Rita Robbins?" He asked, leaning in conspiratorially.

"Actually, we already got her. We have a confession on tape, and she willingly gave herself up." Sawyer said, smirking at him. Charles looked just about ready to burst.

Barry tried his best to look shocked. "What? Really? How did you-"

"We saw a superhero!" Charles blurted out, drawing the attention of several passerbys. Sawyer glared at him, and he calmed down a bit, but still had a goofy expression on his face. "We saw a superhero." He whispered.

"Which one?" Barry questioned, remembering that this world apparently had its own set.

"A new one, actually. Calls himself 'the Flash'." Sawyer informed him. "He can move really quickly, like speed of light quickly, and he convinced Robbins to confess."

Barry almost laughed. He was fast and was only getting faster, but he'd likely never hit light speed. "That's awesome! I guess there's no need for us to do anything more then."

To his surprise, Sawyer and Charles didn't join in, instead they exchanged looks and grinned at him.

"Actually, Barry, we were thinking that it might be a good idea to hire a new Crime Scene Investigator." Sawyer said.

Barry hadn't really expected this. He had thought about joining the NCPD as a CSI, but after learning of their financial state, he didn't want to be a drain on resources. "Well, I know the city's low on money…"

Charles waved a hand dismissively. "Considering that you're basically as good as a CSI and a Fire Investigative Squad all on your own, it was worth looking through the budget again to see if there was some we could reallocate."

"It wouldn't be a lot." Sawyer warned.

"You'd actually get paid less than me, cause I technically have seniority." Charles added cheerfully. Then his cheer faded for a moment, and he became serious. "But we could really use you, man."

Barry barely had to think it over. He knew he was a good CSI, and Charles could definitely use the help, plus it's not like he needed a lot of money while he was staying over at Kara's for the next few days.

"I accept." Barry said formally.

"Great! We'll just need to set up an interview, but after that you're pretty much all good." Sawyer said, smirking.

That's precisely when Barry remembered that he technically didn't exist in this universe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, I've made my decision." Kara stated, walking right up to Ms. Grant's desk.

"Hm. Thirty four minutes before the deadline. This better be good." Ms. Grant said/warned, taking off her glasses to stare intently at Kara.

She took a deep breath. "I want to be a reporter."

Silence. Kara quickly tried to explain. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. Being a reporter is about connecting with people, it's about finding the hidden truth and sharing it with the world. It's about service, and telling stories that need to be told...and it will make me the best version of myself, because it will definitely push me out of my comfort zones. This is it. This is my calling."

Ms. Grant silently handed her a yellow envelope, sealed at the top. "Open it." she ordered. Kara did so and found that it was an old copy of her resume, with one added word. Reporter was scrawled across the paper in steady, sure letters.

"The minute you came in to interview as my assistant, I had an instinct about you. So I scribbled that instinct on this paper, shoved it in an envelope, and hired you on the spot."

"You...you knew even then? How?" Kara asked in disbelief. She hadn't known until a few minutes ago!

"Instincts. And perhaps I saw a bit of myself in you. Obviously not your strip club wardrobe, and I've probably sworn more in one day than you probably have in your whole life, but you have the integrity to right wrongs and see justice done. You inspired me, Kara. I can see the hero in you."

Kara bit her lip and tried not to laugh.

"Now get out there, and make me proud." Ms. Grant ordered. Kara smiled at her mentor, thanked her, and left the office, hearing Ms. Grant call Eve in with a calm voice for once, but she blocked that out, focusing on one person. James met her gaze and slipped outside to the balcony, where she followed him.

"You know, what's funny is, by my age on Krypton, I'd be considered an old spinster." Kara greeted awkwardly. James didn't smile, and the two turned by mutual agreement to look out over the city. Kara thought she saw a blue streak zip by down on the street, but it was probably her imagination.

"I know it seems like I should have everything figured out by now, but I don't." Kara admitted. "Last year was all about figuring out how to be Supergirl and now...it's time to figure out how to be Kara. You were right. Something has changed for me."

James finally turned and met her gaze, and somehow managed to look calm, despite both of them knowing he was anything but.

"You and me together, that's all I wanted." Kara continued. "But now when I listen to my heart, I just...I know we work best as friends.

"And we will always be friends." James reassured her after a moment. "Just...tell me one thing. Does it have to do with-"

"-It doesn't have anything to do with Barry." Kara said as gently as possible. He didn't deny that that's what he was going to say, but neither did his skeptical expression disappear. Still, he seemed to be coping well with their breakup, and Kara quickly left, hoping he wouldn't see the blush on her cheeks.

She hadn't been able to think about Barry all day without flushing, nor had she been able to look him in the eye. The reason was very simple. Early that morning, she had woken up to find that she and Barry were basically snuggling on the couch, having moved across the couch in their sleep at some point.

And rather than try and find a way out of the situation or even waking Barry up, she had curled in closer and laid there for almost an hour, just relaxing, being horribly embarrassed the whole while, but too comfortable to move. When Barry had woken up, she pretended to be asleep until a few minutes had past. She might have overdid it by breaking the couch arm, but he didn't seem to suspect anything.

But...now that things with James were laid to rest...maybe…?

No. Kara shook her head forcefully. After a break-up was no time to be thinking about forming new romantic relationships, and she had promised James that it wasn't because of Barry. And it wasn't.

Right?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rita sat in the holding cell at the NCPD, staring up at the ceiling, just glad that she was alive. It was a morbid thought, given that her friends were dead, one by her hand, but it was true that she was relieved to still be alive. Some emotions were even coming back to her. The most prominent one was anger. She wasn't sure who it was aimed at. Herself, Mark, Wayne, well maybe even the Flash for bringing her in, even if he had promised to help her get justice. Everything was covered with a red haze, and if there were anyone if front of her at the moment she wasn't sure she wouldn't try to attack them.

"Hey, you got any spare food?"

Rita turned her head mechanically to the man in the holding cell across from her, leaning against the bars casually. The Australian man, Corben, was mean-tempered and rude, but he was the only company she had all day that wasn't a cop. She threw him a piece of bread through the bars, which he caught and began to eat without so much as a thank you.

A click echoed through the holding cells, and a cop walked in, a hat pulled way down over his face, with an older woman walking confidently behind him, closing the door behind them.

"Who the hell are you?" Corben asked bluntly, still chewing on his bread. The woman smiled at him, and Rita was almost fascinated by her smile. It was like a doll had learned to smile by looking at pictures; technically accurate, with none of the feeling behind it. There was no warmth or empathy, but neither was there disdain or pity.

"Why, Mr. Corben, I believe that I am your liberator." The woman said, a touch of smugness in her voice.

"I think he was asking for a name." Rita pointed out, despite her better judgement. The woman turned to her and favored Rita with another emotionless smile as the cop pulled out a set of keys, unlocking both of their doors.

"Well in that case, dear, you can call me Mrs. Luthor."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Holy. Crap. This is the single longest thing I've ever written in one sitting, bar none.**

**I realize now why a lot of authors recap things from the show. Because it is so boring to go scene by scene recording lines when all you want to do is get far enough along to put in your own ideas. But I think I'm getting there, and we'll be diverging wildly from canon soon enough.**

**I don't really like the Barry mystery subplot, but I needed it, and I think it's decent for the first 'mystery' thing I've written. I always wanted Barry to show off more of his forensic skills in the TV show, plus I needed to get Barry into the NCPD. And to get Rita in the hands of Lillian.**

**I'm really glad most of you like the slow burn on the Kara and Barry stuff. The tension is a lot of fun to write, and I'm hopefully going to give them more time together as we diverge from canon.**

** Thank you for all your support, and as always, remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW! **


	6. Suprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which someone other than Barry and Kara grab hold of the Idiot Ball

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Day 8_

"Well, congrats Barry. You're blond."

Barry gaped at the picture displayed on the DEO's monitor. A few agents snickered as they passed by, and Winn himself looked like he was barely restraining himself from laughing at the image of Detective Bartholomew West glowering out of the monitor.

Barry's doppelganger looked almost completely like him, other than the blonde hair, with only a few noticeable distinctions. Barry West was a man who was obviously more accustomed to scowling than to smiling. Or showing positive emotion at all.

"Wait, I'm confused. Why are there two Barrys?" Lar wondered aloud, fiddling with some of the office toys that already cluttered Winn's new desk. Winn snatched the toy off and held it protectively to his chest.

"Hands off, man!" Winn snapped. "You want a place to put your toys, get your own job hunting aliens." Lar rolled his eyes and held up his hands in surrender, allowing Winn to re-position all of his toys on his desk.

Barry wondered if Winn had noticed that people had moved all of their things away from Winn's new desk after he had barged in with his box full of 'collectables'. Probably not. Winn had been on Cloud 9 since J'onn had decided to hire the former IT manager, something several DEO agents were clearly not happy about. Barry definitely wouldn't want to be the one to bring Winn down.

"The short answer is that there's another person who's basically me, but is sort of different." Barry explained to Lar shortly, his eyes still fixed on Barry West's visage. How did he end up getting that last name…?

Lar considered that for a moment then gave a more serious look to the image. "So basically, this version of you looks like it's yours and Kara's love child that was raised by Alex Danvers?"

"Essentially." Winn agreed over Barry's spluttering. The moment was interrupted as a slight reverberation shook the building, shaking the furniture. Everyone reacted with the ease of a newly formed habit, just checking their monitors to make sure that the building wasn't destabilized then resuming work.

"Hey, Winn…Could you look up my-his- information?" Barry asked, trying his best to sound casual, shaking off Lar's joke.

Winn smirked and spun dramatically in his chair, setting to the keyboard with fervor. "What would normally take several minutes of highly intensive hacking into the CCPD networks now only takes…6 seconds with a DEO passcode!" He said victoriously, sending up the new information.

Barry read the information quickly, a growing frown on his face making him resemble his doppelganger all the more as Winn read the information aloud.

"Bartholomew Wallace West, born Bartholomew Henry Allen. Father killed his mother after she tried to file for divorce when the kid was 11. Was adopted by Joseph West when he was 12, had his name changed the same year. Graduated two years early out of high school, earned a double bachelors in criminology and chemistry, then graduated from the Central City Police Training and became a detective in record time. Damn, Barry, be glad you didn't end up like him."

Winn's joke fell on deaf ears, and the silence stretched between the three for several seconds before Barry realized that Winn had spoken and gave the duo a bright smile that didn't convince either of them.

"So, I guess I can still be Barry Allen, then." Barry continued, hoping his smile wasn't as sickly as he thought it was. So this version of history his dad did kill his mom, given that no Flash existed here to prompt Eobard Thawne to go back and kill Nora Allen. There wasn't even a STAR Labs to create meta-humans.

"Yeah…" Winn muttered, sensing Barry's desire to move on. His fingers ran over the keys and within a few minutes, multiple papers were pulled up on the screen. "So, Barry, you get a chance to create your own history. How do you want it?"

The next few minutes were a blur of Winn recording Barry's personal information, weaving him a new legal existence. Barry wanted to stay as true to his actual records as possible. Winn wanted to throw in some extra impressive details to impress the NCPD. Lar wanted everything to be done already so they could all go out in the city again.

Throughout the whole process, minor quakes shook the building, not even causing someone's coffee to spill. As Winn put the finishing strokes on Barry's new identity, there was a blur of motion, and both Kara and Superman were standing in the room. Most of the DEO straightened when they saw the Man of Steel, but he was a bit too distracted for greetings today.

"Hey, guys. What's happening?" Kara asked cheerfully, her eyes focused solely on Winn and Lar. She still wouldn't look Barry in the eye for some reason.

If she expected Winn to answer, she was mistaken. The new DEO agent was staring at Superman with a slack expression, clearly seeing the bruises on the male Kryptonian's face, as well as the total lack of injury on Kara.

"We're making Barry a new identity." Lar answered instead, gesturing vaguely at the screen. Kara peered at the information and her eyes caught on the glaring visage of Barry West.

"That's my doppelganger." Barry explained before she could answer. "We had to make sure that I wasn't displacing someone else, but he has a different name, so we should be alright. Plus, you know, he's _blond_." It was enough of a difference to throw people, especially since Barry had no plans to be in Central City anytime soon.

"And what's so wrong with being blonde?" Kara asked, cocking an eyebrow. She finally met his eyes and Barry noticed a slight flush in her cheeks that sent a pleasant jolt through his stomach.

"What did you do to Superman?" Winn burst out before Barry could come up with a rebuttal.

Superman coughed slightly and flushed at the attention that was suddenly brought on him.

"Kara was showing me the…advantages of actually learning to fight." He was very visibly embarrassed, and given his stiffness, he probably had a few bruises that they couldn't see.

"You can thank Alex for that." Kara grinned at her cousin. "I may not be as good as her yet, but it's certainly better than just flailing around like an overgrown baby."

"I'm not that bad." Superman protested.

"You really are." A new voice cut in sharply. J'onn stalked over to the group, and Superman stiffened at his entrance. "Kara has gotten better at not causing damage, but I almost had to evacuate the building after all the times you clumsily misjudged a punch."

Everyone quickly found something else to do as the two aliens stared each other down.

"So, Kara, I guess Superman shouldn't have copied your costume until he was actually as good as you, huh?" Barry asked casually, trying to break the tenseness with a joke. He didn't expect everyone to stare at him like he had said something catastrophically stupid. "What?"

"Nothing." Kara cut in, a smirk twitching at the corner of her lips. "I think you're onto something there, Barry."

J'onn snorted, fixated his eyes on Superman again. "Unless you're going to have your powers neutralized while you fight, keep the fists from flying in this building. They tend to be expensive." He directed a look at Clark, who folded his arms and glared back at the Martian.

"Really? You're going to bring up that up again?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that there was a _that_ to bring up. Having a _that_ would imply that there was only one occasion when you destroyed multiple buildings while fighting in a populated area."

They were interrupted by a beep on the monitor, and Winn tearing himself away from staring at the two with both fascination and horror. "Ah, there's a robbery taking place on-"

Barry didn't stay around to hear the rest of the sentence. He had read the words off the monitor, and dashed to the location, National City blurring past him. The two men were already in the car, both wielding guns, one with his hands on the wheel and the other with a bag bulging with cash. The only way the robbery would have been more stereotypical was if the bag had a dollar symbol on it.

In an instant, the bag was gone, dumped safely in the hands of the bank teller that had alerted the police, and Barry was behind the two men's car.

"Hey, I know that getting a loan can be hard, but maybe getting your credit score down would work better than a couple guns." Flash mocked. The two men stared at him with confusion.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" The one with his hands on the wheel asked bluntly. Oh, that's right. No one knew who he was.

"I'm the Flash." He put his hands on his hips and grinned at the two. His smile dimmed when neither seemed the least bit put off.

"Jeez, everyone thinks they can be a hero since all that crap in Gotham went down…So you're not, like, Superboy? I mean, you've got the color scheme down. Speaking of which, Mike, would you mind _shooting the costumed freak?_ " The man screamed, his amiable tone disappearing as he shouted at his partner, spittle flying from his mouth.

"The money disappeared!" Mike snapped at his partner.

"What do you mean it disappeared?"

"I mean it was there and _now it's not._ "

Flash waved a hand to get the men's attention. "Uh, guys? I took the bag. You know, superhero and all that?"

Both men turned white. "Shit, he actually has powers." Mike muttered. The two nodded at each other and turned their guns at the Flash, emptying their clips as fast as possible.

The world once again slowed down around the Flash, and the bullets slowed down considerably, though not to a standstill. Still, it was simple enough to catch the bullets and let them drop on the ground in front of the stupefied onlookers.

"So, feel like giving yourself up?" Flash offered.

Mike, apparently, did not, because he hopped out of the car and sprinted at Barry, fist raised to punch Barry in the face. Barry didn't even have to tap into the Speed Force to dodge the sloppy punch and punch the man in the face, feeling a satisfying crunch of the man's nose under his fist. No wonder Oliver did that so often.

"Just so you know, the next time you try to punch someone with superpowers, put your thumb on the outside. It won't help, but you might not embarrass yourself as much." Barry informed the two casually. This was nice. Normally the metas that he faced were a mite too destructive to properly banter with.

Flash heard the sirens coming and decided that it was probably better to not interact with the police yet. He needed to get back to HQ...maybe stop for a quick bite to eat.

By the time he had handcuffed the two to each other and run back, J'onn had stalked off, and Superman and Kara were bickering amiably, Winn switching between typing and watching the two out of the corner of his eye.

"You did not 'own' me, Kara. If I remember correctly, I got you pretty good just a few minutes ago." Superman protested, the bruises on his face already disappearing.

"That one didn't count," Kara protested. "I was…distracted."

Barry couldn't help but stare, a small smile on his face. Kara was one of the most cheerful and energetic people that he had ever met, bar none, but now she was practically glowing with happiness. He supposed it made sense, given her background. Superman was all that remained of her original planet, and both seemed closer than any siblings he had seen.

He checked his watch and nearly swore. He was going to be late for his interview if he didn't leave soon, even at super speed. He dashed out of the DEO at top speed, one question occurring to him and being dismissed in the same instant.

Where had Lar gone?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mon-El moved through the crowds with an odd feeling of lightness and a grin on his face. He knew he was sneakier than people gave him credit for, but a lifetime of sneaking out of the palace had its uses, and managing to get out of the DEO and mingle with ordinary people was one of them, humans essentially being the same as Daxamites in large clusters.

The smile on his face died as he remembered all of the times he had snuck out of the palace. Roxxas had later told him that they had been able to easily see him sneaking out the first few years, but admitted he had genuinely gotten good enough to give them the guards a challenge later.

Roxxas…

Mon-El's steps faltered and someone tried to push past him, only to find the Daxamite immovable as a block of steel. The man fell to the ground, spilling papers all over the ground. Mon-El winced as he saw the man's papers trampled, but no one else moved to help the man, so Mon-El moved on. Someone else would help that man, surely.

As he continued to walk, his mind kept spiralling back into dark topics, despite his best efforts. Had it really been thirty years since Krypton's destruction? That would put Mon-El in his fifties, at least as far as time was concerned. Had Krypton not blown up he could have been king years ago and maybe…maybe Roxxas would be alive.

The thick feeling of bile rose in Mon-El's throat, but he choked it down and wiped the tears that prickled at his eyes. Roxxas wouldn't want him to dwell on this. Granted, Roxxas would want him to take revenge against Kryptonians, but that didn't exactly seem possible, given that they were effectively indestructible and both were rather attractive.

A few people moved away from the irate Daxamite as he growled in frustration. Mon-El needed to get his mind off of things.

He needed to find a bar.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara stepped out of the elevator, feeling oddly naked without Ms. Grant's latte in hand, but striding in and greeting everyone as normal. With the recent surge of superhero activity, people were almost constantly in a rush at CatCo, but they still took the time to greet her back, even if a few people shot curious looks at Clark as he walked with her.

"Just remember, you're gonna do great."

"I know."

"I know you know, but do you _really_ know?"

"Yes, Clark. I chose this job out of literally hundreds."

"And if you need any help, I am a veritable fountain of knowledge."

Kara nudged her cousin playfully, trying to keep the nervousness out of her smile."I read your past three articles, Clark. I think there's a limit to how many times you can quote an anonymous source that happens to be something Superman heard while on patrol."

"That's part of the charm of my writing. You're going to have to develop one too. And also remember-"

"Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"I have twenty seconds to get in Ms. Grant's office otherwise we won't have to worry about how well I can report, because I'll be fired." Kara stressed. Somehow her cousin managed to be more nervous about her new job than she was, which was saying something.

"That would be an accurate statement, Kara." Ms. Grant's voice cut in. Her boss was clearly impatient, but still had a calm smile on her face that Kara assumed was for Clark's benefit, as well as the calling her by her proper name.

Kara adjusted her glasses and walked briskly over to her boss, shoving down her nervousness. "You're gonna do great!" Clark called after her.

Despite her boss's impatience, Ms. Grant didn't even acknowledge Kara coming to join her, instead giving Clark a friendly wave. Once the Kryptonian turned around her gaze fell lower, and Kara felt her stomach roil at the leer that grew on Ms. Grant's face.

"Watching Clark Kent walk away is like transcendental meditation, all of your worries just fall away…" She murmured to herself, just loud enough for Kara to hear.

Kara nodded and tried to pretend she wasn't about to vomit as Ms. Grant guided her into the office. "Kerah, I want you to meet your new boss, Snapper Carr, one of the few people that might be as good a writer as me, given a few years." Cat snapped her fingers and a man ambled over from the window.

"Your praise is overwhelming." The man said flatly. Snapper Carr was a balding man dressed in simple, ruffled clothing, and he lacked both the vitality and sharpness that Kara admired in Ms. Grant. Still, he was her new boss, and a genuinely amazing writer. Kara stuck out her hand and gave him a blinding smile.

"Kara Danvers, nice to meet…you…" She trailed off when Snapper's eyes drifted over her as if she were another piece of furniture, barely registering her presence and not shaking her hand.

"Great view you got here, Cat." Snapper remarked, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Would be nice if I had one like it."

"Well, perhaps if you didn't insult or degrade everyone you ever met when you're dragged away from your work then you can start your own company and get the top floor."

Snapper snorted. "Please, Cat. You insulted your way to the top; all I can do is imitate the masters."

"As fun as trading wit can be with you, I believe that you came here to meet your newest recruit." Cat reminded, bringing attention back to Kara. Snapper finally looked at her, and his interest in her went from 'piece of furniture' to 'slightly annoying piece of furniture'.

Kara tried smiling at the man again, and he responded by picking at his teeth disinterestedly. "Mr. Carr, I just want to say that I am going to be giving this my all." Kara said with determination. "I've read a lot of your pieces, actually, and I just hope that I can learn everything that you can teach me."

For a moment, it seemed like Snapper would say something, but he just grunted and ambled out of the room, not giving either women another look.

Kara was completely baffled. She could handle people not liking her, or even actively disliking her, but she had never had someone just sort of…deny her existence. "I don't think he liked me very much." She muttered.

Ms. Grant snorted and moved over to her desk. "Oh, Kerah. If there's one thing you're going to learn being around Snapper Carr, it's not to judge a book by its cover. Even if that book happens to be an asshole sometimes..."

"So…he did like me?"

"Oh no, it's quite possible he hates you."

Kara sighed and felt the beginnings of a headache begin to form at her temples. "Great."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't think the chief likes me very much." Barry muttered to Charles as they walked into the lab.

"Hm? Oh yeah, Mike is a bit of an asshole in the morning, especially to us CSIs. Something about his wife and daughter dying in a shooting a year ago and us not getting enough evidence to convict the guy." Charles said flippantly, setting his coffee on his paper-covered desk.

Barry froze in the doorway, staring at Charles with shock. "Really?" His mind was racing, he had to look over old case files, maybe the evidence had been placed aside or mishandled or _something_ , this sort of thing had happened before and he needed to fix it…

"Nah. He's just a dick."

Barry sighed, and wasn't sure if he was supposed to be annoyed or outraged. He settled for being annoyed.

"Hey, Allen, it's good to see you passed our rigorous inspection." Sawyer drawled sarcastically, coming up behind Barry and forcing him to step into the cramped lab. She examined Barry with a critical eye and snorted. "You didn't have to dress all fancy; you would have gotten the job if you had shown up in your underwear."

"Yeah, just for the record, you do have to wear pants while you're in the lab. I'm not sure what the rule is for the rest of the building." Charles joked, taking a sip of coffee and leaning back in his seat.

"Um, not that I'm complaining about you being here, but I think we're supposed to get to work, so…" Barry trailed off awkwardly. There was a veritable mountain of paperwork on what he supposed was his desk that he needed to work through.

Sawyer handed Barry a manila folder. "Just needed to get this back to you, we had to check the credentials on your resume, apparently there were a couple of discrepancies."

"Discrepancies? What do you mean?" Barry took the folder and thumbed through it, seeing that everything was how he had written it just an hour ago.

Sawyer folded her arms and gave him an irritated look. Well, more irritated than her default expression anyway. "Well apparently it causes a bit of an issue when people don't put some of their jobs or qualifications on their resume. Why didn't you tell us that you have von Gierke's disease?"

Barry's brain stalled. "What?"

"We found a medical order from your doctor saying that you need to eat every three hours or you can suffer acute hyperglycemia. What the hell, Allen, this is important for us to know!"

It clicked in Barry's mind and he almost grinned. He had specifically asked Winn not to modify his record to include anything that would stick out too much when the man had tried to sneak an MIT doctorate into his record, but apparently the DEO agent had thought one step ahead and prepared an excuse for why Barry constantly needed to either rush off or constantly be eating.

Barry tried his best to project awkwardness, which wasn't exceptionally difficult for him. "It's kind of embarrassing. I got made fun of a bunch at my old job for it." He admitted/lied.

"To be fair, man, I do that anyway and it's not because of any disease. You're good." Charles reassured him with a lazy grin. "But you are right." Like a switch being flipped, the man was serious, no traces of joking in his tone. "We do need to get to work. If we don't file these properly then they may get disposed of as evidence."

Apologizing again to Sawyer, Barry made his way to his new desk and settled in to the familiar blur of paperwork. The two worked in relative silence for several hours, with Barry taking snack breaks occasionally. Several hours later, the sun was on its downward climb, streaking the sky with shades of orange and red.

Charles stretched his arms above his head and groaned as his shoulders popped. "Man, that was exhausting." He muttered to himself. Then he shot a grin over at Barry. "But it was good to have someone else to go through it with."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He grinned back at the man.

Barry was lying, plain and simple. He was used to finishing up his cases for the day in a few minutes tops. Going so slowly was grating on his nerves, and he wanted to go through Charles's cases after the man left to make sure he hadn't made a rookie mistake like he had at the crime scene. But Charles was content to watch the sunset through the windows. It wasn't a good view, it was actually very poor, but Barry had to admit it was somewhat relaxing after staring at papers for hours on end.

"So, man, where are you staying? You said you're new in town, do you need a place to crash?" Charles offered casually. Barry almost snorted. After a lifetime of barely making any friends, now he had people offering to let him stay in their houses after only a day or two.

"Nah, I'm staying with a friend for a while. She says it's cool if I stay for a few more weeks, as long as I stay out of the apartment during sister's night." Come to think of it, that was tonight. He would have to do some patrolling tonight or see if Winn wanted to hang out…

Charles straightened up so suddenly that he almost upset his stack of paper. "Barry?" He asked calmly. "You wouldn't happen to be crashing at the home of a pretty woman now would you?"

"I never said she was pretty." Barry protested, mentally groaning.

"You never denied that she was either, now answer the question."

"Yes, I am. Why?" Barry's exasperation kept any embarrassment from his tone. It's not like he had a reason to be embarrassed, Kara's attractiveness wasn't a secret, especially not to him…damn it, now he _was_ embarrassed.

Charles swore violently under his breath and cursed several gods with increasingly colorful and diverse adjectives before slumping back into his chair. "Where's the luck, I ask you?" He groaned dramatically.

Barry couldn't help but laugh. "If it makes you feel any better, she's in a relationship." Man, he was getting _good_ at suppressing those pangs of envy. It certainly didn't help that he had been the one to encourage her to go after James.

Charles exhaled and got up, slinging his jacket over his shoulders. "Well, there's that, I suppose. See you tomorrow, Barry." The CSI waved as he walked out of the cramped lab, Barry echoing his words. He waited for the man's footsteps to fade, and then tapped into the Speed Force, feeling the world slow down around him.

It was time for the real work to begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The atmosphere of CatCo Magazine was very similar to the one that pervaded the main CatCo building, only even more electric. There was no corner of the office that wasn't filled with movement, and it was a considerable control in exercise to give properly when people ran into Kara and pushed past her. She wasn't exactly sure where the main room was, but, luckily, there was a way to pinpoint where the boss was.

"Damnit, I want that print up, and I want it _yesterday,_ Meyers! And where the hell is Lewis?"

It was clear from the winces that Snapper wasn't just loud to people with enhanced senses, and Kara tried to deaden her sense of hearing as much as possible as she came up behind him.

"Hi, Mr. Carr, I'm ready to start." Kara said brightly. Snapper grunted and immediately moved away from her to another part of the office. "Um…Mr. Carr?"

"Hutchins, Adams is out sick, you're going to have to cover the cellular dead zones. If you don't have any contacts then call Adams, see if he'll share." Carr ignored her, continuing to bark orders at his subordinates, who scrambled away.

Thinking maybe he couldn't hear her, Kara leaned closer to the man. "Mr. Carr?!" She practically shouted in his ear, hoping that she didn't rupture his eardrums. It still should have at least startled him, but he just glared at her.

"My lord, ponytail, can't you take a hint?" Carr growled. He moved past her, and Kara noticed that, while he didn't he didn't bump into her like she was meaningless, he instead moved out of her way like she was some contagion, which managed to be even more insulting.

"I think I'm picking up that you don't like me?" Kara tried, following behind him as he moved to a desk that had several layers of papers spread out all over it, different colors of ink circling sections or crossing them out.

"On a more personal level, yes I don't like you in the least, but most of my disdain comes from what you represent." Carr snapped, plopping himself down at his desk and began leafing through several pages at a speed that Kara would have found impressive had she not been both confused and offended.

"Is…Is this a sexism thing? Because I don't think I can represent anything else." Other than, truth, justice and the American Way, but he didn't know that. Wait, no, that was Clark. She really needed to come up with her own motto.

"Wrong. You represent pure entitlement, ponytail. You think you can just be a reporter because you want to? That you can just make that decision? Everyone around you, everyone in this building, has been working at honing their skills for _years_. I don't just hire anyone, especially not when I'm ordered to."

With one last look of contempt, Carr turned away from her pointedly, a clear dismissal. Kara didn't move, and the crowd of people continued to move about.

"But…being a reporter is my calling." Kara protested, hating the slight waver in her tone. Damnit, she had faced down actual supervillains, how was this guy getting under her skin so much?

"Then go work at a smaller paper, I'm sure they're hiring absolute novices." Carr growled back. "If you don't know what you're doing, then you're just a drain on resources, and until you actually do some journalism, then _you're not a reporter._ "

This was not how things were supposed to go. Carr's absolute disdain and refusal to accept Ms. Grant's orders was throwing her for a loop, and she spent the next several seconds just trying to come up with something to say and failing, all the while Carr ignoring her.

"But…you can't…..I mean, I choose…." She got out, fragments of half-formed arguments being the only thing she could say. For a moment, her temper flared, and Carr's attention snapped back to her. For a moment she was worried that he had somehow sensed her sudden desire to use her strength, but his look was one of irritation, not concern.

"To put things in perspective, just know that even now, when you're not even doing anything, you're making it harder for actual journalists to do your job. Now get out." He ordered.

For a moment, Kara was tempted to actually punch him, but she shoved it down. Still, she dug her heels in and crossed her arms. "Or what?" She challenged, a bit of the Girl of Steel slipping into her tone.

Carr stood, and despite him being shorter than her, it was clear he was looking down on her. "Or I will channel my last divorce and break you emotionally." He growled.

It was at that moment Kara realized that no one had bumped into her for several minutes, and she noticed that people were actively avoiding both her and Carr, sending pitying looks at the blonde. A hot flush made its way up her neck. "Ms. Grant was right, you are just a…a….a mean person." She spat with all the venom she could muster.

Carr snorted, looking unimpressed. "Yeah, I'm sure that's how Cat put it. Get out or at least shut up, ponytail, I don't care which. Actually, I do care. _Get the hell out of my office."_

Something in his tone was so close to Ms. Grant's that Kara's feet were carrying her away even before she made a decision, taking her to the elevator, away from Carr's disdain and the journalists' pity. Once isolated in the metal elevator, she bit back a scream of frustration. She would need to hit something before sister night, get some aggression out…maybe Clark would be up for sparing again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Who the hell is that guy?" The man that Mon-El mentally dubbed Grunt 1 demanded, pointing a meaty finger at Mon-El. His nose itches, and he tried to scratch it, but his hand missed its mark by a mile, more of a spasm than an actually coordinated movement.

"It's fine, he's cool." Wilson quickly assured the man. "He's new in town; he just wanted to get on the right side of things."

Mon-El tried to flash a charming smile at the man, but he wasn't…completely sure what was happening. He had gone to several bars during the day, only to find most of them closed. Finally, worked up, he had simply punched his way through the door and let himself inside. That's when Winslow noticed him.

"Lar's super strong, I mean like ridiculously strong. He's…special." Winslow insisted, swiping his greasy locks to the side as he looked pleadingly between Grunt 1 and Grunt 2, putting emphasis on the last word. "He'll do good, I swear."

Winslow had politely notified him of the cameras monitoring the door, and had invited him to go out drinking with him and some of his buddies. Mon-El, or rather Lar as he remembered his name was supposed to be, graciously accepted.

Lar didn't remember a lot after that. Most of the Earth drinks had no effect on him at all, but as he showed off more and more of his strength to Winslow and his friends, getting drunk off the attention rather than on the booze, he began to feel woozier and woozier.

That's how he ended up here. The floor swayed underneath him, and two of Wilson's buddies helped him keep upright. Grunt 2 walked over and grabbed Lar's face, looking at him intently and pulling back with a disgusted look on his face.

"How many drinks did you give him?" Grunt 2 demanded. Wilson flinched, but stayed in place, staring back at the bigger man nervously.

"All of them. He went through seven bottles of vodka. We had to use most of the harder stuff we stole from that alien hangout downtown."

Grunt 1 whistled and looked at Lar with a mixture of respect and disgust. "Alright…but he doesn't look like an alien. The crowds might think that we're abducting humans."

"Don't worry, no one will mistake him for human once he shows what he can do." Wilson promised. He turned to Lar and his friends. "Lar, I think these guys are doubting your strength, would you mind punching something?"

That _did_ sound like a good idea. Lar easily shrugged out of the tight grip Wilson's friends had him in and buried his fist in one of the man's stomach. He had meant just to drive the wind out of him, but the man hurdled back and slammed into a wall. Sick crunches filled the air, the sound of breaking bones, and part of the drunken haze that engulfed his mind lifted.

"Whilshon, whath's….whath's happening?" Lar demanded, stumbling as he tried to straighten up. Grunt 1 and 2 exchanged glances and both nodded. Grunt 1 pulled on a set of gloves and advanced on Lar. He tried to take up a fighting stance, only to nearly stumble to the floor again.

Grunt 1 pulled out a cloth that reeked of harsh chemicals and clamped it over Lar's nose and mouth. It shouldn't have affected him in any way, but his dizziness only increased as he inhaled the chemicals in the cloth. The world began to go dark, and Lar's limbs finally twitched to a halt.

The last image Lar had was of being lifted into a van and Wilson being given a large sum of money.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara had never really had the problem that some people complained about of things being _too_ quiet. All she had to do was pay a little bit more attention and she could hear every conversation in a five block radius. But still, there was something about being in her empty apartment that felt…lonely.

Sister night had not gone well.

Alex had off all night, quieter than normal for some reason. She had drunk an entire bottle of wine by herself, which normally made her almost inappropriately loud and brash, but she had stubbornly refused to say a word, even when Kara had tried to draw her into conversation. Maybe she didn't want to get into the more personal things they normally did while Clark was there.

And then Clark had told her that he was going back to Metropolis. He had his own duties to attend to, a girlfriend and a job that needed his attention. Kara understood that, she really did, but… She didn't want him to go. He was family, and family was supposed to stick together.

To make it worse, Kara didn't have any of those things to tie her to National City the same way Clark was tied to Metropolis. She and James had broken up, and he actually seemed to be avoiding her lately, and the only words that Snapper Carr had said to her today was that he wasn't going to teach her because she wasn't really a reporter, dismissing her entirely.

A familiar sound made itself known to her, and in a flash of lightning, Barry, dressed in his new costume, had dropped onto the couch across from her, groaning in relief.

"Hey, Barry." Kara greeted half-heartedly. She was too tired to be embarrassed from looking at him.

Barry's lazy smile dimmed, and Kara felt a jolt of guilt, plastering a smile on her face too late for him to not be concerned. "What's wrong?"

Kara shook her head, trying to project calmness. "Nothing's wrong, just a busy day." She tried.

Barry brightened. "That's right, you had your new job today, how'd that go?" He asked eagerly.

Kara snorted indelicately. "Well apparently, I'm not reporter material." She muttered, a hint of bitterness seeping into her tone.

"What? According to who?" Barry jolted up, looking outraged on her behalf. Kara was too tired to fight the pleasant warmth that the outraged sparked.

"According to my new boss, Snapper Carr."

"Pffff." Barry waved a hand dismissively. "I don't even know who that is, so he can't be that important."

"Barry, I don't know how to break this to you, but you're from another dimension."

"Yeah, but it seems celebrities and other important people are fairly consistent between our universes, and I've never heard of any 'Snapper Carr'. Besides, I think you'd be a great reporter." Barry claimed, giving her a determined look.

Kara couldn't help the smile that came to her face at his faith in her abilities. "I think you may be a tad biased." She teased.

"I'm a scientist, Kara, we don't have biases." Barry said loftily. "Besides, my best friend is a brilliant reporter, and I happen to have dated one too, so I do have a bit of experience judging journalistic talent, and I think you're going to be a great reporter."

Kara felt a surge of jealousy that almost felt like a punch to the gut, but she pushed it down and continued to smile, focusing more on the compliment. "Thanks, Barry."

He grinned back at her, and she felt a familiar swooping in her stomach that she was only now realizing she had been feeling ever since she had met the speedster.

Barry waved her off, smiling. "No problem. How was sister night?"

"Not great." Kara admitted. "Alex and Clark were acting pretty odd." She decided that he didn't really need to know her worries about Clark going back to Metropolis.

"Clark?" Barry asked a tinge of something she couldn't identify in his voice. Kara looked at him in confusion for a moment before it clicked.

"Oh, right, you don't know. Clark is Superman's civilian identity." Kara explained. "We don't get to spend a lot of time around each other, with him being in Metropolis and me in National City, so I decided to invite him over."

Barry seemed to relax a small amount. "So Clark counts as a sister, then?" He teased.

Kara laughed. "Nope, he's just a big nerd. He covered his own eyes during one of the sex scenes."

"You're kidding."

"Not in the least. Seeing his reactions were almost better than the actual movie." Something tickled her memory and she suddenly remembered that she wasn't the only one who had their first day at a new job. "That's right, you had your interview today, right? How did it go? Did you wow them all with your detective skills?"

"Pretty good, actually." Barry admitted. "The interview was more of a formality than anything else, they put me right to work. Unfortunately, I share the lab with someone else, so I can't use my super speed to get work done."

"You use your powers to get work done?" That caught Kara off guard. She may occasionally use her powers to heat up her coffee or hear Ms. Grant coming, but that was just making things more convenient.

"Yeah, normally. Don't you?"

"No, actually. I hid my powers for so long that I only risked using the subtler powers like super-hearing." She admitted. Barry gave her a blank look.

"Super-hearing?"

Kara cast her thoughts back to when she had explained her powers to Barry and realized she hadn't included her super senses. She was too used to people knowing what her powers were based off of Clark's testimony and it had slipped her mind. She quickly explained that aspect to Barry, and his look of confusion turned into one of horror.

"So you hear everything that happens around you, all the time? How can you function?" He demanded. A giddy feeling filled Kara, and it took her a moment to place what it was. No one had ever really reacted that way to her powers. People tended to think that superpowers were all upside, so of course it would take another superhero to think about the downsides.

"I can filter it out pretty well." She explained. "Only really important things catch my attention from far away, like screams or gunshots."

"Dang." Barry whistled. "That must take a lot of concentration."

"It can lapse sometimes." Kara admitted. "Especially during fights I'll occasionally slip and I can hear things." It was something that she seriously envied Clark for. He had refined his control so well that his super senses were on more of a switch than constantly being on.

Barry suddenly stilled. "So, when you were fighting with Clark earlier…" He trailed off, embarrassed, and Kara quickly realized what he was talking about. One of her lapses had indeed come when she was fighting and she had accidently tuned in when Lar had commented about what Barry West looked like.

That one moment of embarrassment allowed Clark to land a punch on her.

"Nope, not at all. Clark was too sloppy to make me lose concentration." Kara claimed hastily. Barry let out a breath of relief that he quickly tried to pretend didn't happen. "Why?"

"Nothing, nothing, just curious." Barry lied. There was a moment of tense silence, and Kara desperately searched for something else to say.

"So, you said your best friend is a reporter? What's he like?" She asked. Contrary to her expectations, Barry didn't look any more at ease, rather a look of conflict flashed across his face. She once again tried to think of something else to say when Barry spoke up.

"She, actually. Iris West."

Kara couldn't help but be a bit surprised. There wasn't anything wrong with a guy having a female best friend, after all she and Winn were a good example, but she still hadn't expected it. "You don't seem very…enthused." She said carefully.

"It's complicated." Barry said bluntly. "And not something I really want to get into."

A hot flush filled Kara's face at his reticence. She had shared with him information about her planet's history that she had never confided in anyone and here he was, too reluctant to talk to her about one tiny detail of his life?

"Fine, you don't have to tell me." She bit out, shifting away from him. "I'm gonna make some pancakes, you want some?" She got off the couch and started towards the kitchen.

"No, Kara, stop." Barry's hand shot out, but he refrained from actually touching her at the last moment, not that he could have actually stopped her. Still, she turned towards him, keeping her face blank. Barry's hand went to his face and he rubbed it tiredly.

"Kara, I'm sorry. I really meant it when I said things were complicated." He apologized.

"No, it's fine. There are some things we need to keep to ourselves." Kara's tone was as emotionless as her face, and she didn't move.

"But this isn't one of those things." Barry said firmly. "Look, I'm not…totally used to having friends." He admitted. If there was one thing she had expected him to say, it wasn't that, and she couldn't keep the disbelief off her face.

"You? How are you not used to having friends? You're…you." Barry gestured for her to sit down, and she did, recognizing the atmosphere as the same one that pervaded when she had talked about Krypton.

"Kara, there are some things I haven't really told you. When I was ten, my mother was murdered." Barry admitted. His face was composed, but his gloved fingers bit into the couch beside him.

"Oh my god, Barry, I'm so sorry." Kara said honestly, taken aback at the sudden information.

"It's alright, Kara. I've…mostly come to terms with it. The issue is that the police thought that my father had murdered my mother. There hadn't been anyone else around, so they figured that he was the one to do it. The only one that said differently was me. I told the police that it was a man in yellow who had killed my mother, traveling in a lightning storm."

A sick feeling filled Kara's guts. "A lightning storm…" That's exactly what it looked like when Barry was running. Barry nodded solemnly.

"Yeah. It turns out that it was actually another speedster that ran back in time to discourage me from ever becoming the Flash, but no one else knew that, so there was no reason to think that my testimony was anything other than 'childish delusions'." He said, making no attempt to disguise the bitterness in his voice.

"But I didn't give up, I knew my father was innocent, and I tried everything I could to prove his innocence. But everyone in National City, every kid at my school, every adult I came into contact with, thought that I was the crazy kid of a deranged murderer. Kids don't tend to understand that sort of thing. I don't think…" Barry swallowed, and his eyes dropped to his lap. "I don't even think that Iris really believed me about my dad. But after that, she was my only friend, my best friend, my…sister, sort of. Even when I went off to college, I didn't really have a lot of social skills because I hadn't made any friends for so long. The only friends I made after Iris were Cisco and Caitlin, and I never would have gotten close to them if they didn't know about my powers."

Kara sat back and tried to process what Barry was telling her. She had been nervous when she had first gotten to Earth and had interacted more with Alex than anyone else, but she had made friends over the years. She may have had to hide her powers, but she was still free to be Kara Danvers even if she couldn't be Kara Zor-El, but Barry couldn't even be Barry Allen without also being the son of a murderer. Come to think of it, even Kara had known him as the Flash first, Barry Allen second.

Barry clenched his hand and opened his mouth to continue, but Kara leaned over and put a hand over his. "Barry, you don't have to, it's alright. I get it. We…" It was hard to get out, but she did. "…We haven't known each other that long. You don't have to open up if you don't want to."

Barry fixed her with a serious look, and part of Kara wondered how she hadn't noticed how green his eyes were before, then immediately shoved that part of her mind away. "Kara, you let me know about your secret identity, trusted me to fight by your side, and I'm currently living in this city solely off your generosity. You are my friend. I trust you."

Kara stared back at the Fastest Man Alive, and tried to come up with something else to say, but couldn't. It wasn't a huge declaration, hell given the past few days it didn't rank up in the Top 20 Most Dramatic Moments. But he had made it clear to her that friendship was a rare thing to him, despite his general affability.

"Custody was given to Joe West, my neighbor, and even though he never actually adopted me he became my father in everything but blood. Iris is his daughter, and I grew up living the hall from the girl I loved."

Kara's throat closed up and she wished for a moment that she hadn't pressed him at all. "So… she's your-"

"-I don't know what she is." Barry cut in. "I confessed to her over a year ago, while she was dating Joe's partner, Eddie Thawne. I didn't expect it to change anything, but I needed to let her know. But then Eddie…died. He died a hero, and I've kept away from Iris. But when I crossed over to another Earth, kind of like this, I found out that we were married in this other dimension, and it reignited some feelings. I haven't really…had a chance to try anything else."

For a moment, it seemed like he was going to say more, but then he stopped. "And that's it."

Kara smiled sweetly at him, pretending that her stomach wasn't clenched in a hard ball. "Thank you, Barry." She muttered. Well, at the very least, that resolved the issue that had been floating around at the back of her mind. He was here to train, after all, and then he would go back. He would return to his Earth, back to his responsibilities, back to Iris West.

"I shouldn't have tried to cover it up in the first place. We're partners, right? Partners don't hide things from each other." Barry smiled at her again, and the butterflies were back. Kara resolved that there was at least one thing she would be keeping to herself.

Kara pulled her hand away from his only to offer it to him again. "Partners." She agreed. Once again they shook, goofy smiles on their faces.

Barry broke the contact to stand and stretch. "Well, you made breakfast this morning, I think it's my turn. Any requests?"

"Nope. Show your culinary mastery to me, Flash."

"Yes, I am going to show you a delicacy like no other: stir fry. Where do you keep the pans?"

"Top shelf on the right."

Barry turned around and walked towards the kitchen, and Kara guiltily stole a look, then refused to turn red. If he was off limits anyway, there was no harm in it, and besides, Ms. Grant was right. Transcendental meditation…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Thud._

_Thud._

_Thud._

Lar still wasn't awake, not properly, but his mind remembered what it was like to be in stasis, and it told him that he was surrounded by presences. They were excited, they were anticipating something, but their presences were mere specks of light compared to the two suns blazing several feet in front of them.

One of them was injured, that was clear. It was flickering like the last vestiges of a flame, and that only seemed to make the watching presences more excited. Finally it stumbled to a halt and boiled down to a mere ember of light. The blazing presence walked up to it, and the watchers flared with bloodthirsty excitement.

_Thud._

Lar came awake with a sick feeling in his stomach, and he knew that there was one less life in the world. That sickness gave way to a new one, and Lar quickly doubled over to violently vomit.

That was not a good idea.

Lar appeared to be in some sort of large metal box, barely large enough for him to walk two steps, and now it was filled with the acidic stench of his own sickness. He shook his head, trying both to not focus on the smell and drive the last vestiges of cloudiness from his mind.

He leaned his head against the cold metal that made his prison, feeling somewhat relieved that he didn't have a migraine. With all the alcohol he'd drunk, he should have been catatonic. Granted, he shouldn't have trusted the first person who had promised him booze and he shouldn't even be on this planet either, but there wasn't a lot he could do about any of those things right now.

First things first, he needed to figure out where he was. He focused on his vision, and the metal surrounding him dimmed, which Lar immediately regretted. He fought the urge to vomit again.

There was a dead alien lying only feet away from his prison, what had once been a Apaldraxian, but it was hard to tell given the twisted limbs and the scattered remains of its skull, wet chunks of brain matter and blood barely marking it of having once had a head.

_Thud._

Lar's wary focus was drawn to the other presence he had sensed, the one who had killed the Apaldraxian. It wasn't something he could identify, somewhere between an ape and a Daxamite, the dark tuffs of fur across its chest and arms stained even darker with blood. It was a monster.

The monster turned to the crowd of people that it was separated from by steel netting, exposing a mouth full of canines in a victorious roar that shook the arena, even if Lar couldn't hear it. The crowd's roar was almost louder, and Lar could see glee on the multitudes of masked faces.

A woman sauntered casually to the front of the crowd, the only one without a mask. She had sharp, hard features, but a theatric smile on her face. Lar almost thought that she had a snake coiled around her frame, but realized it must be a tattoo. The woman spoke encouragingly, and the crowd roared in response, though whether it was approval or outrage Lar couldn't tell.

The woman made an expansive gesture that ended right at the entrance to Lar's prison, and Lar could hear a click coming from the door. Lar's x-ray vision flickered out as the door creeped open, taking the smells of his sickness and replacing it with the smell of blood.

"Once merely a stray causing chaos in National City, now he is here to dazzle and entertain, Lar, the Boy of Steel! But can this handsome brute handle our undefeated champion?" The woman's voice was harsh in his ears, and the screaming of the crowd nearly sent Lar to his knees.

Instead, he shakily rose to his feet and stepped out of the prison, stepping into the light of the arena. His eyes went immediately to the corpse of the Apaldraxian, who was being dragged away by a group of men in black, leaving only a smear of blood to speak of the Apaldraxian's life.

Then his eyes fell on the monster. It towered over him, even as it slouched under the weight of its enormous arms. Its eyes should have been beady and vicious, full of dumb rage. Instead, clear grey eyes met his, coldly judging him.

"What are you supposed to be?" The creature grunted, its voice grating over his eardrums.

"Lar." He responded numbly, trying not to look afraid and keep from trembling. He was failing, and a cold bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

The creature snorted, its wide nostrils flaring even further. "Not 'who' you are. What."

It wanted to know what he was for some reason. Maybe it liked knowing the species of the person it killed, giving itself even more sadistic pleasure. Maybe, even in its own way, it was cordiality between prisoners. Either way it didn't matter. It was still going to try and kill him, try to end the last remaining trace of Daxam from the universe.

A scorching rage bloomed in his chest as the creature waited for his answer, the crowds yelling at them to get on with it already.

"Fuck you, that's what." Not waiting for it to get mad, Lar burst forward and slammed into the creature, knocking it off balance. It must have weighed several hundred pounds at the least, maybe even close to 700, but it hadn't expected his attack, and Lar took it to the ground.

The sounds of the crowd's approval filled his ears as Lar's fist collided with the creature's face. He felt the bone creak under his blow, far more resistant than a human or a normal Daxamite's would be. Lar cocked back his fist for another blow, but the creature retaliated, sending Lar sprawling with an aching jaw.

He had only a split second to roll away before the creature's fist caved in the concrete where his head had just been. Lar delivered as hard a kick as he could to the side of the creature's shin from his position on the ground, rewarded with a grunt of pain.

Then the creature brought it's fist down on Lar's chest, driving the wind out of him. Thanks to his near invulnerability, he wasn't pulped, but he definitely didn't want to take another one of those. Unfortunately, it wasn't his decision, and the creature drove another fist into him, now into his stomach, forcing him into the ground.

_Thud._

_Thud._

_Thud._

Lar's lip split, and he could feel his ribs breaking underneath the blows the creature was landing, staining the ground with his blood. The royal blood of Daxam, the last remains. _He_ was all that remained.

The creature brought up both of its fists for a hammer blow, surely the finishing blow, and Lar's hooded eyes met the eyes of the being that would kill him. A feral smile curled it's monstrous lips, and something inside him snapped.

It only took a few seconds for Lar's scream to reach a crescendo, and then it was added to by the creature's pained bellow of confusion, both climbing in pitch and intensity. Lar's body shook with rage, and the creature stumbled away, clutching its head in pain.

No.

No, it would not get away from this. Lar pushed himself out of the ground, arms trembling with exertion as he fed pain, rage and despair into the void that was hungrily sucking them up, forcing them into the mind of that creature.

Lar approached it slowly as the creature fell to the ground, its roars becoming whimpers. It glanced up at him, tears obscuring its vision, pleading, begging.

His fist snapped out, and the creature's head snapped back. It would have been so easy to crush its head into a pulpy, bloody mess; he would have just had to apply a bit more force. But instead, it would spend the next couple days with an intense headache and a nasty bump. Lar wouldn't take another life from this universe.

The creature slumped to the ground, and Lar was engulfed in the sounds of the crowd's approval.

"Beyalat Daxam!" He roared, the words bubbling to the surface without his bidding.

" _Beyalat Daxam!"_ They roared back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Day 9_

"This is Kara's phone, how may I help you?"

Silence from the other end of the line, and it gave Barry time to finish another pancake, idly listening both to the static silence and the sounds of the shower running.

"… _.Barry?"_

"Hey, Clark, how's it going?"

" _Why are you answering Kara's phone?"_

"Kara's in the shower. I don't know about you, but most people don't tend to take their phones in with them."

" _No, I mean…wait, are you at her apartment?"_

"Yep. I'm crashing here for a…few days." Barry tried to keep any nervousness out of his voice as he talked to Kara's cousin. He hoped that the Kryptonian wouldn't be the overprotective big brother type.

" _Oh."_ Great, that was definitely colder than it had been a moment ago. _"Well, when she gets out tell her that she needs to get to the DEO quickly. Mon-El is missing."_

Any of the casualness Barry had been trying to feign ended. "What? How long has he been gone?" He demanded.

" _I don't know, I just managed to overhear it."_ Clark said evasively. Barry frowned. From what Kara had said, she had to focus to use her super-hearing, and likely Clark was the same. Why would the Man of Steel be eavesdropping on the DEO?

"Alright, we'll get over there." He promised. Almost immediately after he hung up, a text message came from one Hank Henshaw, ordering both him and Supergirl to the DEO as soon as possible, only confirming Barry's suspicion that Clark had been spying on the DEO, or at least J'onn. He'd deal with that later though.

"Kara, we need to go." He called towards the bathroom, rushing to put the plates and the pancakes away. He heard the shower shut off and there was a hurricane of movement, then Kara stood in front of him, fully dressed and dried.

"Why? What's wrong?" She asked, still pulling on one of her shoes.

"We have to get to the DEO. It's an emergency."

There was another flurry of motion, and Kara was dressed in her Supergirl outfit, leaving her previous outfit strewn on the floor. Barry privately swore that he would have to make sure to always change either before or after her so that his perception of her movement wasn't slowed down to normal speeds. As it was, he quickly got dressed and darted out the window, running down the side of the apartment building and into the street, seeing the blue spot in the sky that was Supergirl darting towards the DEO building.

A momentary flicker of competitive spirit filled Barry, and even without the tachyon device he tried to _pull_ on more of the Speed Force. He was not expecting the sudden flood of energy that filled his veins, and he shot forward, a wild grin on his face.

Supergirl was waiting for him when he ran up the DEO building, a grin on his face. He didn't have Cisco to run estimates on his speed, but using the tachyon device was definitely making it easier to pull on the Speed Force's power, even without it attached to him.

"What's got you so happy?" Kara asked as they walked into HQ, waving at a few of the people who greeted her.

"I'm getting a lot faster. I might even be able to match my tachyon enhanced speed within a few months without its help."

"That's awesome, Barry!" Despite her congratulations, Barry noticed a slight crinkle on her bridge of her nose, and her smile was wider than it should have been. "And once you're as fast as me, maybe I can promote you from sidekick to a proper hero!"

"Hey, I'm not your sidekick!"

"Really? Because it seems like you're ripping off my costume, only without the awesome cape."

"I seem to recall stopping you from falling off a building just a few days ago. You're welcome, by the way."

"I don't know if you've noticed this, Barry, but I can fly. Like, through the air. Besides, even if I had landed I would have been fine, I doubt I would've even bruised."

"Yeah, but it would have been really suspicious if you had fallen ten stories and the ground was more hurt than you were."

The two quit bickering as Kara considered it for a moment. "Okay, you've got me there." She conceded. "But I freed you from Myriad."

Barry snorted. "I drove your uncle insane. Well…more insane."

"How could you drive my uncle insane if you were a mindless drone?"

"Mainly by getting really hungry and him having to order me food."

Kara turned to gape at her friend. "Wait, are you the reason that my favorite Big Belly Burger ran out of burgers after Myriad? Damn it, Barry, that's the best one in National City!"

"If it helps, I'm pretty sure those things are only 30% beef at maximum."

"As long as I don't know what the other 70% is, I don't care."

"As _fascinating_ as this conversation is," J'onn interjected, sarcasm thick in his voice, "I would prefer if we focused on the matter at hand."

Kara blinked in surprise. "J'onn, when did you get here?"

"I've been here the whole time. Don't worry, I know that I'm fairly inconspicuous." The sarcasm did not leave his voice, and Barry rubbed the back of his head, realizing that he and Kara had indeed been so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn't registered the alien's presence.

"Sorry, J'onn." Kara apologized sheepishly. "But you really should speak up when you want to get someone's attention."

J'onn's eyes briefly closed and he muttered something in a language Barry didn't recognize and was fairly sure he didn't want to. "Moving on," J'onn bit out, "We haven't seen any trace of Mon-El in a full twenty four hours."

Barry's amusement drained away as he recalled the emergency, and Kara's eyes widened with surprise. "Wait, what? How did he get out?" She demanded.

J'onn motioned for them to come with him and walked towards Winn. "Mr. Schott, pull up camera feed from yesterday morning, 8:45." He ordered.

"Allllright." Winn stopped doing what he was doing and, within a few seconds, had the feed up on the big screen. It showed multiple different angles from inside the building, and it was fairly obvious which one was Lar moving through the crowds, but no one stopped him from exiting the building, with Barry faintly being able to tell that he was turning left out the door.

"This is the last footage we have of Mon-El, and it looks like he headed up North Central. We have agents looking through the area, and we're checking reports for men with super strength around National City." J'onn reported grimly.

"Well, maybe he was out partying?" Kara suggested without much hope. "Why did no one stop him, anyway? He didn't seem all that stealthy."

"He's changed his posture and walk." Barry noted absently, continuing to watch the looped footage. It wasn't likely that Barry would be able to find him with any of his CSI skills, but if he ran throughout the city at top speed he should cover a lot of ground in a couple hours…

"What?" Winn's question hung in the air for a moment before Barry realized it was directed at him.

"What about what?"

"About the…posture thing." Winn gestured vaguely with his hands. Kara snapped her fingers before Barry could answer.

"He's doing the same thing I do!" She declared, surprise evident on her face. "If you slouch and shuffle, people tend to just glance over you and not notice you a lot. He's using it to move around in the crowds."

"We may have underestimated our Daxamite." J'onn muttered. "If he knows how to move through the crowds like that and keeps low to the ground he may already be out of the city."

"But why?" Winn interjected. "Why would he try to get away from the DEO? He doesn't even legally exist here, it's not like he just get a job and live a quiet life."

"Maybe he just doesn't like it here." Kara suggested. "I mean, it's not like you guys have the most comfortable beds. Or any, for that matter."

"Actually, they do have housing facilities here." A familiar voice corrected, accompanied by a harsh gust of wind and the appearance of Superman. "Enough for around two hundred and fifty, give or take."

"There are beds here?" Barry couldn't stop his mouth from saying.

"Indeed. Lucy was originally going to put you up here at HQ until you ended up staying with Kara." J'onn confirmed.

Barry really wished that J'onn had not said that in front of Superman. He shot a glance at the man, only to find him with his normal smile on his face, making Barry sigh with relief.

"So Clark and I should probably scan the city, right?" Kara asked J'onn, apparently not noticing Barry's anxiety. Barry was glad to see that she was concerned for Lar's wellbeing, given her…slight racial prejudice against him.

"Correct. Supergirl, you know National City the best, you do a wide sweep, use your x-ray vision on the buildings. Flash, you take the streets, make sure to focus on alleys or suspicious looking meeting spots." J'onn ordered. "Understood?"

Superman stepped closer to the Martian. "I'm going to scan the subway tunnels, I've heard reports of alien activity there."

J'onn met his gaze coolly. "That is…acceptable. Meet back at HQ in four hours with your findings." He ordered the group as a whole, turning and stalking away. Kara turned and nodded at Barry and Superman seriously, taking off immediately.

Barry made to follow, eager to get the search started, when suddenly he found himself weightless, his surroundings blurring around him. It was remarkably similar to being dragged around by Zoom, and wild, animalistic panic overtook his brain.

The Speed Force flared through his system with an almost painful intensity, and his fist lashed out, landing a solid hit on the person carrying him, the pain in Barry's ears alerting him that he had actually managed to do a supersonic punch without any build up.

The person dropped him, and Barry fell awkwardly onto hard concrete, coming up as fast as he could to confront the new threat, sure that he would see Zoom's terrifying visage. Instead, he was greeted to the face of Superman, a large bruise already purpling the area above his mouth.

"What the hell, Clark?" Barry hissed. He was shaking, much to his shame, and wasn't sure if it was adrenaline or the aftereffects of pulling on the Speed Force so suddenly. He definitely had at least a half dozen fractures in his hand alone, to say nothing of the bones in his arm.

The Man of Steel pulled a hand away from his mouth, seeing the flecks of blood. "That was a good punch, Barry." He complimented casually. "Just wanted to have a chat with you, thought this would be a good place."

Barry jerked his head around to look around, and found that they were indeed standing on top of HQ, National City sprawling distantly beneath them. If Superman had dropped him, Barry wouldn't have been able to gain any traction on the building before he went splat.

"Maybe you could have just asked me to meet you up here." Barry suggested sarcastically. Clark shook his head, his expression losing its friendliness, becoming impassive as a glacier.

"Then Kara would have overheard, and I didn't want her worrying." Clark said. "And you were about to rush off. I didn't think you would freak out so much, we were barely in the air for two seconds."

"Don't try and pin this on me, man. You're the one who thinks it's okay to grab people and drag them into the sky." Barry snapped. Clark sighed, and the impassivity broke.

"Look, Barry, I'm sorry." Clark apologized. "But I do need to talk to you. Will you calm down if I agree to never scoop you up again? Without your permission, at least?"

Barry breathed deeply, and shoved down all of the fear, locking it away. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I don't think you should keep staying with Kara." Clark said bluntly.

"Any particular reason why?" Barry asked stiffly. "I don't have any money, I can't really stay anywhere else."

"You could stay here, at the DEO. Or you could try staying with one of your new work friends. I don't have any problems with you personally, Barry, I actually like you and approve of what you do as the Flash, and I'm glad that she has you watching her back. You just need to not be staying in her apartment."

Holy crap. Was Barry getting the protective older brother speech? He had never been given one of those before. It was significantly more intimidating when the person giving it was literally an alien demi-god.

"Clark…" Barry didn't know exactly what he was going to say, but Clark cut him off.

"See? She's told you about the DEO, a secret government organization, as well her secret identity and mine. And how long have you known her? A week?"

"Nine days." Barry defended.

"That's not any better. Barry, your time here is limited, both you and I know that. People going through a period of change tend to form attachments quickly, sometimes too quickly." He gave Barry a significant look.

A hot flush covered Barry's face, and he opened his mouth to deny it, but nothing came out. He couldn't deny it. He could tell what Clark was trying to get to. "I'm not trying to get in the way of her and James." He said instead.

"She and James broke up."

Barry's brain short-circuited and required several seconds to re-boot. "Why are you telling me this? I don't…I'm not planning anything."

"You don't need to be planning anything to hurt her."

"I'm not going to hurt her." Barry snapped. "Look, Clark, you nailed it, I'm here to train, but I'm going to help Kara wherever I can, and you can trust me not to…make a move. I'm here to _help._ That's what heroes do."

Clark stared at him coldly. "And the fact that I can literally throw you into space doesn't convince you?"

"If you're anything like Kara I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts that you won't."

There was a moment of terse silence that was broken by Clark's chuckling. "Dollars to donuts…that's a good one. I'll have to use it. And if you're anything like Kara, nothing in heaven or earth will change your mind."

Barry snorted. "If it makes you feel better, I sleep on the couch."

"Damn right you do. And you're going to be paying rent if you're going to be staying there any longer." Clark said firmly. "And if you ever lay a hand on her without her being okay with it we'll see if you're as fast on one leg as you are on two."

Barry laughed.

Clark did not.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara walked through CatCo with leaden feet, her sense of enthusiasm deadened by the failures of the day. She, Clark and Barry had swept the city several times, only to find nothing, no traces of Mon-El, or Lar as Barry and Winn insisted on calling him. She had originally planned on marching up to Ms. Grant and demanding that she do something about Carr's…behavior.

But when she got to Cat Grant's office, all her words fled, and she sunk onto the couch.

"Kerah? Kerah, what on earth is the matter with you?" Ms. Grant barked, her voice becoming marginally softer when Kara didn't respond. "Kerah?"

Kara shook her head slowly. "Everything is changing." She said simply. "And I don't know…how to handle it." She was so confused, there was no constant to rely on.

Kara expected some sort of advice from her boss/mentor, only to find Ms. Grant sighing in frustration and pouring herself a dollop of whiskey and draining it in the space of a second.

"Damnit, Kara, when are you going to get out of your own head?"

Kara blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Everyone can see it." Ms. Grant snapped. "Everyone else can see it, Kara, except for you. If you were still working directly under me I would order you to go out and question any of the people on this floor, and they would all tell you the exact same thing. Kara Danvers is an extraordinary young woman, intelligent, belligerent, hell if your little tech friend was still around he would write a twelve page sonnet exalting your excellence, so when are you going to see it for yourself?"

She couldn't help from gaping as her boss came to stand in front of her and put her hands on Kara's shoulders. "You are going to do amazing things, Kara, but you need to learn to do them by yourself, because I am not going to be around forever."

The words were like a hammer blow to Kara's stomach, driving the wind out of her. "Ms. Grant…are you dying?" She croaked.

The words caught Ms. Grant off guard, and she took her hands off Kara's shoulders, a soft smile forming on her face. "No. No, I'm not dying. In fact…I think this is the most alive I've ever been. I'm moving on. I'm giving up CatCo."

"What? But, Ms. Grant, CatCo is like your life's work, why would you give it up?" That was possibly understating it, the only thing that Cat Grant cared for more than CatCo was her sons. The only time she had wanted to give it up was when she had to for her son's sake.

Ms. Grant shrugged, still with a gentle smile. "Because there's more to my life than CatCo. I've built it up from obscurity, made it into one of the world's biggest media empires, hell, I launched Supergirl, but…I've done all I can do. I'm on the edge of my own ocean, Kara. It's just as cold, just as vicious as yours, and if you're going to dive, so will I."

Maybe Kara should have felt more assured. It was clear that Ms. Grant thought her speech was assuring. But if Kara had been diving before, now she was drowning. Cat Grant had been such a huge part of her life, she could barely imagine what life would be without her, but it was clear that this is what she wanted. And if there was one thing that Kara respected about Cat Grant most of all it was that she chased after what she wanted.

"Ms. Grant….I'm going to miss you." Her eyes burned, but she swiped them away and embraced her boss. Ms. Grant rubbed soothing circles on Kara's back.

"I'm going to miss you too, Kara." Cat muttered. They held each other for a few more moments, then separated, Ms. Grant turning away with what was obviously not tears in her eyes.

"So, was there anything else that you wanted to say?" Ms. Grant tried to regain her professional tone, and Kara didn't have the heart to tell her she was failing. Kara shook her head and smiled back at her boss.

"No, Ms. Grant. I think I can handle it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Winn, you've been working non-stop for the past fifteen hours. Take a break." Alex tried.

Privately, Winn wondered if she was really concerned for his well-being or if she was just annoyed at the sound of his keyboard. The sound had been a constant throughout the day, never letting up, and Winn had noticed how several of his new co-workers had moved away from him because of the noise. Or perhaps because of something else…

"Alex, I'm getting close, I can't stop now." Winn continued typing with one hand, taking a long draw of coffee with the other. It was bitter, brackish stuff, but it would do for now. The only thing keeping him awake was caffeine.

"You've been saying that for hours now, and giving yourself a heart attack via coffee is not going to find Mon-El any quicker."

Winn snorted. "Yeah, and if three superheroes can't find him, then what can I do, right?"

"You know that's not what I said, Winn."

The typing paused as Winn took a moment to rub his face in exhaustion. Everyone else had left hours ago, and it was only Winn and Alex left, though Winn was pretty sure J'onn was somewhere in the facility, brooding.

"Sorry, sorry. Tired Winn is a cranky Winn." And there was the fact that Winn hadn't even noticed Lar disappear, as consumed as he was by Superman's presence. And that it had taken him a whole day to notice Lar's absence, which, given that he was the alien's first friend, was absolutely unacceptable. There was that too.

"Which is exactly why you need to take a break. Cheerful Winn is the one everyone likes, bring that one back."

"Oh, don't worry, tomorrow things are just gonna be sunshine and lollipops again." Winn promised, silently sighing in relief as his aching fingers rejoiced at the opportunity to rest.

Alex snorted. "Well you don't have to worry about the sunshine at least, Kara's got that one covered." She muttered, bitterness clear in her tone, sinking down onto the chair next to him.

Despite his general exhaustion, a tired smile still made its way onto Winn's face. "Alright, come on, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on. I'm fine."

"You know, you don't get a crinkle when you lie like Kara does, you just look even grumpier than normal." Winn joked, hoping she wouldn't break his fingers.

Indecision flashed across Alex's normally stoic face, and she opened her mouth to say something, only to be caught up by a hurricane of movement and a blur of blue and red.

"You know, it's a testament to how weird my life is gotten that I'm not sure which superhero is the one knocking my papers over until they stop." Winn said casually, setting his cup on top of his papers to keep them from blowing over.

Kara smiled apologetically at him, and Winn immediately recognized how forced it was. "Sorry, Winn. Any news on Mon-El, er, Lar?"

Winn's mood soured again, and his fingers itched to be back at the keyboard, searching for him. "Nope, no signs of him. It's like he dropped off the face of the earth. Metaphorically at least." He hesitated. "Maybe literally if he finds another space ship."

Kara huffed and dropped into a chair across from Winn. "Well, that's just the perfect way to cap off this day." She muttered to herself.

Winn couldn't even feel any irritation, though he wanted to. She was likely just as tired as he was, and blowing up at her would serve no purpose. Instead, he sucked in a breath and let it all out. "Yeah, it's been pretty terrible." He agreed.

"Everything is going wrong." Kara muttered. "Things with James fell apart, Lar is missing, Clark is leaving, Ms. Grant is leaving…" Winn wasn't all that surprised to hear the news about Ms. Grant. She had tried calling him over just yesterday to transfer over some of her files she didn't want saved on the company computer without her there, and he had to remind her she was no longer her IT guy.

He still had to do it anyway.

"I was actually thinking, since things aren't working out…" Kara hesitantly said when no one else spoke up. "I was thinking of moving to Metropolis."

Silence reigned for several seconds as Kara watched the two expectantly. Winn's brain kept trying to think up something to say, only to fail over and over.

"So, you're just going to leave us, is that it?" Alex's voice was cold and hard, as if Kara was a stranger, and it made Kara jerk back in surprise.

"Alex, I've thought this over." Kara protested. "There's only upsides for everyone. I mean, of course I'll stay until we find Lar, but this city has been put in danger because of my actions here. In Metropolis I can watch Clark's back and he can watch mine. I can finally be around someone that understands me, so I won't feel so alone!"

Alex opened her mouth to say something, but Winn's voice croaked out before she could say anything. "So…when we were chasing my father and you told me that you didn't feel alone because we were friends…you were lying?"

Winn didn't like to relive that time. He had gotten over Kara, but the combined horror over his dad's actions and Kara's rejection of him made it a very painful time to think about.

"No, Winn, I was telling the truth." Kara amended quickly. "But…Clark is the only one who can understand me. No one else can understand…"

"What it's like to lose your whole world?" Winn asked, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice, trying to force his father's dead eyes out of his mind.

"Or maybe what it's like to have someone drop into your life and change everything?" Alex put in, still cold.

"To not be able to express your emotions for fear of what might happen?" Winn continued, a flicker of anger blooming in his chest.

"Or to get into a new job where the boss is a total hard ass?" Alex bit out. "Yeah, Kara, I doubt anyone else can understand what you're going through."

"You guys…" Kara trailed off. "I know you haven't had it easy, but you're still…normal. I love the both of you, you're my family, but so is Clark, and around him I don't have to hold back my strength, I can sympathize with someone who knows how hard it is to be a hero, the burdens of having these powers. And, like I said, this isn't just for me. I'm doing this for everyone."

"Kara, you can't run away from your problems." Winn protested. His hands were shaking, and he wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion or not. He didn't want to lose his best friend.

"I'm not running away, I'm just…making sure I don't complicate things. Alex, if I go then you won't have to sacrifice your life for me. Hank wouldn't have to worry about Clark coming around to help me, because I'd be with Clark. Winn, you finally have your chance to shine, you don't need me around as a reminder of your old life. James wouldn't feel awkward after our break-up…"

"What about Barry?" Winn cut in, desperately trying to find some reason for her to stay.

"I can leave him my apartment, I still have rent paid for the next few months, and I can put in a good word with the landlady. He can focus on training and being his own hero." Kara's eyes moved off of Winn and Alex to the floor. "Then he can go back home, just like he wanted to."

"Kara…" Winn, his serious tone drawing Kara's gaze back to them. "I ran away from my problems. I moved here to National City to escape my father's insanity, but it didn't change anything. I had to confront it, and even if things didn't work out for the best, I was able to move past it, make my life better."

"Winn, there's nothing for me here." Kara insisted. "If I go to Metropolis I have every opportunity to be better. I can be a better Kara Danvers, a better Supergirl."

Silence resumed, and Kara shifted uncomfortably, tucking her hair behind her ear in a gesture Winn knew denoted nervousness. "Alex, please say something." She murmured.

"I…" Alex's voice almost cracked. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Kara, I've dedicated my whole life to protecting you, physically and emotionally. I blew off dates to supervise yours. I gave up a medical degree to join the DEO, hell I flew up in a spaceship to get you down from space!"

Both Winn and Kara were shocked into silence. "I thought you said it was a great adventure." Kara said, voice wavering.

"And it was, but you need to know how much everyone has given up for you. Clark did not. He abandoned you when you needed him most, we have been here for every fight you've had as Supergirl, every pain that Kara Danvers suffered through. Right, Winn?"

Alex looked to him for support, but Winn only shook his head slowly, feeling disappointment in both of the Danvers sisters. "Alex, I support Kara because she's family, and family isn't about keeping score. It's about supporting each other." He took a ragged breath and turned his eyes to Kara, not trying to disguise the sadness in his face. "And if she thinks she would do better in Metropolis…I support her in that."

Alex's face twisted in anger and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the Martian Manhunter phasing through the wall. **"Kara, Alex, I have a lead on Mon-El's location."** He barked. **"Suit up."**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Minutes earlier_

J'onn breathed deeply as he floated in the air, still dressed in the skin of Hank Henshaw. It had been years since he was able to practice his telepathic meditation, something every Green Martian had been required to do since they began showing their powers. Long ago it would have taken so much concentration that any form he had shifted into would have melted away to reveal his true form, but now he could count the times he had been the Martian Manhunter in the past decade on one hand.

On the surface, this was an exercise to refine his telepathic control. It had never been his most favored skill, even back on Mars. When he used it to wipe a mind, he wiped all of it. When he read someone's mind, he was almost engulfed in their sense of selves, leaving him woozy for several minutes afterward. It had the potential to be a great tool, but he needed to work at it.

In reality, J'onn needed this time to work through his own roiling emotions. Superman was a hard subject for him to think on. They were so similar, yet their differences made a vast void between them. Kara might think that they just didn't get along, but only he, Alex and Superman knew the truth, Alex due to her insistent snooping.

The DEO had the largest available stockpile of Kryptonite on the planet. The meteors from Krypton were hard to predict, but when fell to Earth, J'onn devoted every available resource of the DEO to tracking it down. J'onn had ordered countless agents into enemy countries to retrieve samples that the country's government had found, which resulted in multiple deaths, some of which were his own agents, and he still knew at the back of his mind that there were sure to be other large deposits out there he didn't know about.

But Superman did. Kryptonite was not a subtle weapon. Something about Superman's x-ray vision made the material glow like the sun when the Man of Steel deigned to use that particular power, but since he couldn't get close to the material to remove it, he would just be aware of who had Kryptonite.

One of the closest times J'onn had come to death was when Superman had discovered that J'onn had not gotten rid of the Kryptonite the two had found back when they were still on good terms. It was pure luck that no agents had been around to see the last Martian battling the last Kryptonian. Even then, J'onn likely would have died if he hadn't kept a Kryptonite knife on him. The nick from the knife had been the first pain Superman had felt in a long time, and it sent him flying away.

J'onn knew his rage was warranted. At the time, there had been no indication that there were any other Kryptonians out there, especially ones that posed a threat to humanity. J'onn had kept it for one reason and one reason only: to kill Superman if he ever went rogue. And Superman knew that.

They both also knew that they thought they knew what was best. That was the kind of difference that couldn't be solved with fists or powers. As long as they stayed out of each other's way, they could just keep doing what they did best, and not dwell on the possible threat.

And then Kara had come crashing in. Kara, who he had shot with Kryptonite darts. Kara, who he had train in a room that emitted Kryptonite radiation. Kara, who he loved like a daughter.

Kara, whose only weakness was Kryptonite, a resource J'onn hoarded almost fanatically.

A shipment of Kryptonite that had been recovered from Bialya, headed for the DEO, had vanished a week ago. It had to be taken by someone with a multitude of trained agents, experienced in this sort of operation, and had to have known just what Kryptonite was in the first place. Only one place suited that target. Cadmus. They had Kryptonite, and who knows what they were going to do with it?

J'onn's mind floated over each of these thoughts as he let his mind float outside himself for the first time in decades, being pulled in any direction it happened to go. Suddenly, the calm sea of his mind was overwhelmed by a sudden wave, and J'o _on-El was blocking a hit,_ he was drownin _g, this one was so sloppy, nothing compared to last night's fight._

J'onn tried struggling against the foreign intrusions, rerouting power from his shapeshifting powers, becoming the Martian Manhunter again. He knew this mind, it was Mon-El, but how had the Daxamite developed telepathic powers?

 _The roar of the crowd was intoxicating, he wa_ s in an underground location of some sort, where w _as that? His opponent was fast and vicious rather than strong, but it's claws couldn't tear his skin, apparently he was truly invulnerable again._

This was the only chance that J'onn might have to find out where Mon-El was. The Daxamite was his responsibility, he had to find him. Taking a deep breath, J'onn surrendered himself to Mon-El' _s emotional high, this was nothing like Mon-El had ever experienced._

_The creature had thin green scales that covered everything except its underbelly, which it kept covered by curling up defensively. Mon-El recognized it as a Halmach, whose scales were supposed to be invincible and lustrous as diamonds if cared for properly._

_Mon-El's fist snapped out, and the Halmach was driven back, another crack joining the veritable spider web that covered most of its scales. Either this one took terrible care of his scales or Mon-El was just that strong._

_There was no doubting that Mon-El would come out on top. After he had won last night, he had been given a new cage. It had a bed, plush carpet and a television. It was a prison, but it was a comfortable prison, and Mon-El was well rested. The Halmach stood no chance against him, especially as Mon-El fed his excitement into its mind, the creature's mind buckling under its combined fear and foreign bloodlust._

_Mon-El couldn't believe that he had ever lived without this. As long as he kept feeding his doubts into his opponent, Mon-El was confident and strong. He embodied all the things that a Daxamite should be, unburdened by his planet's ultimate fate._

_The Halmach's snout crumbled under Mon-El's fist, and the crowd screamed in excitement as Mon-El hit the Halmach again and again, all over its body. Mon-El wouldn't kill it, if it died then he wouldn't have someone to pour all of his anger and pain into._

_Mon-El raised his hand to deliver the knockout blow, a bit too much bloodlust powering his punch…_

J'onn forcefully pulled himself back to his body, closing himself off from the psychic realm as much as possible while still keeping a hold on the Daxamite. Mon-El's presence was still at the back of his mind, his untrained abilities broadcasting his location like a fire alarm now that J'onn was open to it.

J'onn needed to get his team to Mon-El's location quickly, before the Daxamite did something he would regret.

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**Holy. Shit.**

**For those of you lovely folks waiting for a chapter after my relatively quick rate of updating over the summer, I am really sorry for the delay. It was a mixture of personal issues interfering, and my computer being destroyed.**

**Mainly the computer being destroyed.**

**Anyway, I had a working version of this chapter several months ago actually, but after my computer became...unusable (i.e in pieces), I had to re-write it in the few minutes I could steal away from work and get to a library computer. So yeah. Sorry. I actually cut quite a bit from this chapter so that I could post it (my ideal would have been 20k+ so that I could break the 100,000 word mark).**

**Hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger, and until my next update, remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW!**


	7. Fight Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which shit goes down

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Night 9  
Supergirl huffed as she deactivated her x-ray vision. "I can't see inside the warehouse, the walls are lined with lead. Are you sure Mon-El is alright?"  
Martian Manhunter closed his glowing red eyes for the space of several seconds, and then they snapped open again. "Yes, I'm sure. He's currently not fighting, but it appears he will soon be involved in another one." He put a hand up to his ear and began giving orders to Alex, and Supergirl tuned out the Martian's voice as they prepared for the raid. Her goal was simple: if there were any super strong aliens, take them out. It was her normal role.  
Supergirl couldn't tell if she was relieved or not. Of course, it was good that they knew where Mon-El was, even if it was at some sort of alien fight club. On the other hand, once they retrieved the Daxamite, Supergirl would need to leave, and things were not good between her and Alex, or between her and Winn, or between her and James…. Then again, that was why she was leaving in the first place.  
"Alex, you and Andrews take the handlers into custody immediately. It's possible they may release more prisoners when we come in. How long until our agents arrive?" Manhunter questioned over the coms, floating in the air several hundred feet above the warehouse district. It would have been freezing if either of them were vulnerable to the cold.  
"Fifteen minutes. Is that cutting it close?"   
Manhunter grunted, clearly not happy. "It will have to do. Any luck with reaching Mr. Allen?"  
"None. Barry is moving too fast for us to get a lock on him and even if we could, he doesn't have a phone."   
"Wait, then how are you tracking him?" Kara couldn't help herself from asking. "Actually, never mind that, why are you tracking him? You know we can trust him."  
There was no response from the other end of the line, though Kara could hear Winn typing furiously on the other end, so Manhunter answered instead, his eyes never moving from the building far beneath them. "After his training we provided Mr. Allen with a glass of water with a subatomic tracker in it. Of course, he didn't know about the tracker. As for why…"  
"Because he's dangerous." Winn chimed in, clearly not stopping his typing. "And if there is a magic rock out there that gets rid of his powers, he has failed to mention it."   
"Winn!" Kara protested. "I can't believe you of all people are saying Barry is a threat."  
"Not saying that he's a threat to us, but he's probably more powerful than most aliens here on our planet. Man, that feels weird to say." His voice seemed to strain slightly with the effort of putting cheer into his voice, and Kara winced, knowing he was still hurt over her planned departure.  
"Well, considering that he'll soon be National City's only hero, it's a good thing that he's good enough to make sure nothing goes wrong." Alex said, her voice devoid of any emotion.  
If Kara could have found a way to glare at her sister through the coms, she would have. She wanted to have this discussion with J'onn when they weren't on an important rescue mission.  
Manhunter's eyes moved off of the building below and focused on Kara. He said nothing for several long seconds, simply studying her intently as Kara tried to figure out how exactly to broach this subject, Winn and Alex not offering any help to either side.  
"You're moving to Metropolis." It wasn't a question. It was hard to make out expressions on Manhunter's face, but he didn't seem angry.  
"Are you angry? I can't tell if you're angry." Kara admitted.  
"I'm not angry, Kara. If I had the opportunity to live alongside another Green Martian, a true equal, learning from one another, protecting one another...I would take it." Manhunter's eyes moved off Kara and onto the building once again. "That doesn't mean that I will be happy to see you go. You are a...extraordinary agent, Kara Danvers. The DEO would be much better with you here."   
"Given that he's my boss, this might be risky to say, but I believe what he means is: I'm going to miss you immensely, and it has nothing to do with your status as resident alien powerhouse."   
"Agent Schott…" Manhunter growled. Kara hesitated for a brief moment, then moved and engulfed the much larger alien in a brief hug. He hugged her back with surprising strength, his eyes still not moving off the warehouse far below.  
"I'm going to miss you too, J'onn." Kara muttered, separating from the Martian and attempting to regain her professional decorum. Still ten minutes until they could move in.  
The minutes ticked by slowly, the only motion being Kara and Martian Manhunter's capes whipping in the freezing blades of wind. Kara couldn't think of anything else that could be said, and apparently neither could anyone else for once.  
Kara could see several dark vans pull up beside the warehouse, and took a quick peek inside just to confirm they were DEO agents, and frowned. Then she turned her eyes towards the other warehouses that marked the landscape beneath her. The fighting ring wasn't the only warehouse she couldn't see into; every other warehouse seemed to be lined with lead too.  
She shook her head. She needed to stay focused on the mission. She could see the DEO agents filing out of the vans, getting ready to bust down the doors. She and Manhunter got ready to fly down. "Ready to begin."   
"Three.." Winn began counting, his voice uncharacteristically serious.  
"Two…"   
"One!"   
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Mon-El relaxed on the sidelines as he watched the next match. His mind was utterly, blissfully clear of any doubt or fear. Even watching as the two fighters, a Green Martian like J'onn that had been creatively named Ms. Martian, and what appeared to be a giant bipedal purple bear who Mon-El dubbed Mr. Bear, didn't inspire the same sort of disgust it did not long ago.  
Laying near comatose at his feet was the Halmach he had defeated minutes ago. The caretakers had wanted to take it away to receive medical treatment, but all Mon-EL had to do was put a fist through the wall to make them stop. They couldn't take it away. Mon-El steel needed it near him to feed his rage and despair into. They would just take it away after he got into his next fight anyway.  
Even though Mon-El wasn't fighting, he was still receiving quite a bit of attention from many of the masked women and a few of the masked men that made up the audience. He grinned at them and occasionally flexed.  
This was good. Why had he never been allowed to do this back on Daxam?  
At that exact moment, Mon-El's vision flickered he was dropping towards the warehouse with Kara right next, to him, they had to save Mon-El. It shook him, and the effort he was maintaining to shove his emotions into the dropped enemy faltered.  
The DEO agents' arrival was almost perfectly timed with Mon-El's emotions slamming back into him. As the audience began screaming and rushing around, Mon-El dropped to his knees, almost directly onto the Halmach, who he now realized was barely breathing, his green skin beaten a sickly purple and yellow, scales cracked into minute fractures.  
At the last moment, Mon-El remembered to turn away as he vomited. He didn't need to disrespect the Hallmach anymore than he already had.  
The screaming alarm bells pulled him back to himself, and he looked around frantically to take in the situation. DEO agents were pulling the masked audience members out with cuffs linking their wrists, but the real trouble was that creepy woman with the snake tattoo. While Alex had tackled at handcuffed one of the caretakers, as had another DEO agent, the Snake Lady had slammed her hand onto a button on the wall.  
That button happened to release all the other aliens.  
Supergirl was in the middle of it all, trying to fight off both Ms. Martian and Mr. Bear at the same time, with all the other confused fighter aliens rushing into the ring. As Mon-El watched, Martian Manhunter joined the fight, but there were easily a dozen enemies in the ring, and neither Supergirl nor Martian Manhunter could use their full strength, otherwise they might kill someone. He could feel their frustration as though it were his own, as well as the anger and confusion of the other aliens.  
Mon-El had to do something. He was strong, he could fight. But as he tried to get to his feet the Halmach groaned in pain, and Mon-El couldn't move.  
What if he got too caught up in the fighting? What if he hurt someone?  
What if he killed someone?  
But there was one person who was conspicuously absent, and Mon-El latched onto that detail. He didn't know why he could touch other minds, just that he could. He closed his eyes and tried to conjure the image of a tall man in a blue suit, the man that filled him with a quiet terror he couldn't quite explain.  
BARRY  
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Barry was resting on top of a building after searching his section of the city for the third time today, legs dangling over the edge as he looked down on the city. He had already searched the city at normal speeds twice before going to work, but he was too antsy throughout the whole day, barely able to banter with Charles. So as soon as he could, Barry had pulled out the tachyon device and searched again, finishing in a third of the time.  
And even though he wanted to find Lar, at the moment all he wanted to do was go home and eat pizza with Kara. He hadn't seen her flying around the city, so she was probably there already.  
Barry pushed himself off the edge and let free fall take him. After his fear about Superman dropping him, Barry had spent most of his lunch break reading up on ways to avoid going splat if he ever found himself high up without a building to run down.  
Which resulted in this.  
The air rushed by him. For any other person the speed would have been both exhilarating and terrifying, but Barry experienced faster speeds every day, so it was actually oddly soothing. Except for the part where he might die if he didn't get this right.  
Barry began to twist his arms in circular motions as fast as he could. His arms alone weren't as fast as his feet, but within a split-second twin cyclones had sprouted from his torso, and his descent slowed drastically.  
Barry idly thought that Caitlin would have killed him for doing something so risky without consulting someone first, but by the time his feet touched the ground he was smiling wildly. This was something he had come up with on his own. It hadn't been taught to him by Eobard Thawne or Jay Garrick, with their hidden agendas and back-stabbing ways, but it was by his own merits.  
…even if it did look kind of silly.  
Barry dropped onto the pavement below, into the middle of a group of people who all stared at him.  
"Um…hi."  
Simultaneously, everyone around him pulled out their phones and took a picture. Barry chuckled nervously, and heroically ran away, almost reflexively pulling on the extra Speed Force from the tachyon device, making sure to avoid making a sonic boom. He was heading towards the DEO when something slammed into his head like a mallet.  
BARRY   
He skidded and nearly hit a car before coming to a stop, clutching his head in pain, feeling a bit of blood drip out from his nose.  
"What the hell?" Barry muttered, he could feel the connection take hold and looked around desperately so that Barry could see the severity of the situation. Supergirl and J'onn locked in conflict, unable to go all out yet constantly taking hits, wearing them down.   
WAREHOUSE  
Barry shook his head to shake the image, but all he could see was some sort of enormous creature Draaga, who was capable of damaging even Kryptonians.   
And Barry was afraid, afraid in a way he hadn't been for quite some time. No, Kara was invincible, there was no way that thing could hurt her…and yet he was already moving faster than he normally dared, heading towards the warehouse district.  
It took mere seconds before he was there, and several agonizing seconds more as he rushed through each warehouse he came across. Most were full of legal merchandise, some illegal, but none were what he was looking for.  
FASTER  
Moving in and out of each warehouse was taking too long. He began to shake, not from anger or fear, but to match the vibration of air itself. He moved through the walls of the warehouses at his top speed, phasing all the while.  
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Supergirl was not having a good time. There were very few things that could actually hurt her, such as large amounts of electricity, lack of oxygen or those rare few that had enough raw strength and, as always, Kryptonite. Unfortunately, two of those four things were present.  
Most of the aliens attacking her were strong. Not strong enough to actually injure her, but enough to throw her off balance and disorient her enough for her to be hit with either a blast of electricity from that odd snake thing or receive a right hook from an enormous albino alien that actually caused a hairline fracture in her ribs. But that was not what truly concerned her.  
Manhunter was taking blow after blow from what looked like a small, feminine Martian. He had frozen up in shock as she had come barreling out, and wasn't fighting back, and he was getting much worse. She couldn't even go over to him, the other aliens would follow and there was too much of a chance she would hit him in the close proximity.  
The enormous pale alien hit her in the same spot that he had before, now breaking a rib. Supergirl threw her arms back and flew up, knocking two of the aliens into a wall and knocking them out in the process. Three down, eight to go. She took a moment to take a breath and was zapped by electricity for her troubles.  
Supergirl grit her teeth at the pain. She couldn't use her laser vision, that ability was almost by default lethal unless her target was completely immobilized, and she still hadn't gotten a good handle on her freeze breath. And while she was getting better at fighting, even the best fighters in the world would have trouble facing multiple people at once.  
She barreled into the fold again, throwing one alien over her shoulder and out of the ring. Seven to go.  
The same enormous alien that had broken her rib knocked aside one of his compatriots to deliver a haymaker to the same spot, with another cracked rib as a result. Six to go.  
Then, in a flash of blue and red light, there was only one to go. All the other aliens were on the floor, groaning in pain, even the lady Martian, and there was Barry…being choked by the enormous albino alien.  
The alien raised a clawed hand to Barry's chest, right in the center of the tachyon device, digging for Barry's heart.  
A shot of adrenaline went through Supergirl's system, and her fist was buried in the thing's stomach, right where it had hit her.  
She used too much strength, and the creature was blasted back, with Barry still in a death grip. The two both slammed into a wall, sending up a kick of debris.  
"Barry!" Kara shouted, rushing to his side, ignoring the groaning creature that wasn't trying to get back up. Barry was covered with ash and wasn't moving, a bloody trail tracing its way across his chest.  
Kara activated her x-ray vision and looked through him. Three broken ribs, and a broken arm, but his heart was still beating, and it didn't look like any of his organs were damaged. Even as she watched, the wounds began to heal at a faster rate than even she healed. She breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Get these aliens into cuffs before they wake up!" She heard Alex order as she helped prop up Barry's torso to help blood flow. His blue suit was torn in several places, more than could be accounted for than just the impact.  
Barry's eyes fluttered open and he took a deep, slightly shuddering breath. He looked up directly into her eyes and grinned goofily. "Thanks for the assist." He muttered.  
She almost hit him in the shoulder, but decided at the last minute to just smile down at him instead. "Say the man who knocked out like a dozen aliens in less than a second. That was like the fastest I've ever seen you go by the way, even I had trouble seeing you." She complimented, feeling an odd twinge even as she turned to see all the unconscious enemies she had difficulty with.  
Barry shrugged. "I was motivated."  
"Yeah, I'll bet…" Winn's teasing voice came through Supergirl's coms. She briefly considered dropping Barry just to prove a point, but decided it wouldn't help anything and instead helped Barry to his feet, even though she could privately admit that he could easily stand on his own.  
For a moment she wanted to stay like that as he steadied, but then her gaze locked back onto J'onn, who had shifted back into his disguise as Hank Henshaw, now that he didn't need to fight. The fully human face allowed Kara to see the total confusion and devastation on his face, even as he cuffed Ms. Martian himself.  
Kara quickly went to his side, putting a hand on the Martian's shoulder. "You want to talk?" She asked softly. It would be stupid to ask if he was okay, after all she knew better than anybody the wild, desperate hope that someone from her home planet might have survived, and then having to fight one of them.  
J'onn stared down at the green woman for a moment silently then shook his head. "No. I need to do my job." He said gruffly. He hoisted Ms. Martian up as she groaned, coming back from unconsciousness quicker than the others. "But…thank you."  
Kara hesitated as he walked away. She would be leaving soon, and she might not get to talk to him face to face for a while. But J'onn could be just as stubborn as Alex when it came to not talking…  
No. Kara shook herself. She would make time. Maybe could put off her departure for a few days to help J'onn with this. It was the least she could do.  
That reminded her…there was one person she needed to tell she was leaving. And he was right behind her. Now was as good a time as ever, hopefully the high of victory would take the sting out of it. She turned around and found Barry kneeling in the rubble.  
"Barry? Are you okay?" The speedster didn't respond, and Kara was quickly by his side, x-raying the other superhero but finding nothing wrong. "Barry?"  
In response, Barry mutely held up the slashed and sparking remains of the tachyon device that allowed him to go back home.  
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Barry blinked open his eyes, silently groaning as he felt his ribs heal. He was never going to get used to that feeling. Light filtered through his lashes and resolved itself into Kara Danvers kneeling right above him, a concerned look on her face. He felt warm in a way that didn't come from his injuries.  
He almost had an impulse to make a cheesy 'is this heaven' joke that certainly came from hanging out so much with Cisco, and he shoved it down. "Thanks for the assist." He said instead. That alien thing was fierce in a way that almost scared him, with reflexes that had allowed him to catch Barry even when he was moving faster than he ever had before.  
"Say the man who knocked out like a dozen aliens in less than a second. That was like the fastest I've ever seen you go by the way, even I had trouble seeing you." Barry shrugged, or at least as much as he could from a reclining position. Not that he was complaining. He was actually quite comfortable…  
"I was motivated." He muttered, trying not to feel embarrassed. Though he could feel his body restoring itself to perfect condition, he had definitely pulled on too much of the Speed Force. He could feel his stomach beginning to eat itself and a pounding made itself known at his temples.  
Kara helped Barry to his feet, and Barry tried not to read into it too much, even though he knew that she knew he was perfectly fine. It was common courtesy after all. When she moved away to go help J'onn, he was alerted to a large tear in his suit that pierced right through his Flash emblem and tore the fabric all the way past his pectoral muscles.  
Barry groaned. That, combined with the tears that had formed from slightly sloppy phasing, and he was going to get an earful from Winn.  
But there was one thing that was absent. A certain mechanical device that had been attached to his chest not a moment ago.  
With a sickening feeling in his stomach, Barry dropped to his knees and began sorting through all the rubble, quickly finding the busted tachyon device. It had been made to be durable, but it was still only a prototype, and Barry had been using it pretty extensively for the past few days. The slash from impossibly sharp alien claws had been the clincher.  
It was beyond repair with Barry's knowledge of both tachyons and mechanics.  
Barry's heart fell into his stomach and stayed there as he stared at the ruined device. It had been more than just an enhancer. It had been his way of training, so he could be stronger than Zoom and Thawne combined, his way to make sure no other speedster could threaten his friends ever again. Bob had said so.  
And now it was broken.  
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Night 9  
While Barry Allen, J'onn J'onzz and Kara Danvers were all going through their own personal crises, Maxwell Lord was having a far more important crisis.  
First off!  
He had gotten so little sleep over the past week that his assistants had drugged him with sleeping pills. He would be tempted to fire them if those hadn't been their exact orders that he had given when he had hired them. Even a genius of his caliber had to sleep sometimes.  
Second off!  
The project that had consumed so much time was no bearing fruit, not even for a genius like him. Studying the various aliens' DNA had been fascinating, and given him many ideas that he would have to explore at a later date, but his true interest was the speedster DNA. He had hacked into the DEO mainframe as soon as new information was inputted and he soon came to learn the sample belonged to one Barry Allen, the mystery speedster/ forensic scientist.  
Lord collapsed back into the comfortable chair that was an absolute necessity for his secret lab and rubbed his face tiredly, as if he could get rid of the fatigue that way that not even four cups of coffee could put a dent in.  
"Mr. Lord?"  
And there was another cup of coffee, being delivered by one of the few scientists he trusted enough to let in this lab, a young lady whose research he could easily fund with a wave of his hand. Her theories were crazy enough that no one else would take her seriously, and his support for her kept her loyal to him in turn.  
Lord took the coffee and took a sip, even as his stomach roiled in protest. "I'm in a bind." He admitted, something  
The woman didn't make for the door, clearly recognizing that Lord wanted a sounding board. "What kind of bind, Mr. Lord?"  
"The kind of bind that comes from utter frustration." Lord stood and jabbed a finger at the polyplex cages on the table in front of him. Each one had a dead rat in it, slumped over with clear pain on their rodent faces. She looked them over with a clear eye, not at all disturbed by the sight.  
"It looks like they died of overexertion." She noted clinically. Lord nodded and took another sip of coffee, even though he still felt like it might make him vomit.  
"I managed to graft some of Allen's DNA onto each of the rats easily enough, the trouble was getting them to activate this 'speed power' of his. I thought maybe just getting them to move in a maze or maybe a wheel might do it, but no dice." He complained.  
"Hm…well, he has been seen with a device on his chest, maybe that's actually the source of his powers." She suggested with slight hesitance, clearly not wanting to suggest Lord had wasted several days experimenting on something nonexistent.  
"No, I saw him remove it during the Non crises and then use his powers." Lord dismissed. Then a prickle of curiosity made itself known through the haze of exhaustion clouding his mind. "Wait, how did you know that? You were nowhere near the CatCo building."  
A faint red hue came to her cheeks and she pulled out her phone, opening it to a brief video that was apparently circulating on some social media site. On it was Barry Allen, smiling awkwardly, clothed in a tight blue suit with red aesthetics, and there was indeed the four-pronged device on his chest. In the video he only stayed for a moment before running off…and then almost smashing into a car.  
Lord's took it all in in the space of a second, and his eyes drifted down to the comments section and a wry smile made its way onto his face. "Really, Pamela? 'Yum yum' followed by the wink emoticon?"  
Pamela Isley huffed and took her phone back. "I don't have to explain my preference in men to my boss."  
Lord snorted, but let the humor in the moment pass and become serious again. "Anyway, that machine isn't the source of his powers, its definitely in his DNA, you can see that easily enough just by observing it. And, for the record, I did manage to activate the power."  
"How?" Pamela asked immediately, her embarrassment evaporating.  
"Well, considering how Supergirl and Superman get stronger in stressful situations I thought adrenaline might be the key, so I played sounds of snakes hissing, and all of their powers activated in unison." Now Lord rubbed his face again and forced himself to choke down another swallow of coffee. "They all died almost immediately."  
"So your frustration is…"  
"That even if I could replicate this in humans, it would still kill them! Activating the power actually changed their bodies in ways that I could study for years, but its incredibly hard on the host. I have no idea how Allen could have survived if it happened to him, and until I figure out how to make something survive the process, I can't risk human trials."  
Pamela pursed her lips and looked critical again, but not of the rats, but of Lord. "There's something else bothering you." She observed.  
Lord almost smiled again, but couldn't manage it. Why was it always beautiful, intelligent women that could see right through him?  
"I'm just not sure if replicating Allen is worth it." He admitted, not liking to say it. "When I saw his powers all I could think of was the endless possibilities they could provide, but they're just not on the level I need. The lightning, the speed, it's all interesting, but ultimately Superman and Supergirl are far stronger."  
"So you don't think that Mr. Allen could defeat Ms. Danvers?" Pamela asked, subtly guiding him back to his comfy chair.  
"No. I've been keeping track of him, and while he's quickly becoming as fast as she is and is cleverer in how to apply his powers, sometimes raw power and diversity just can't be beaten. She could just fly up and ice him down with her freeze breath, or just throw things at him until he inevitably slips up. It's a losing fight."  
Lord's eyes were getting heavy, and Pamela left him in his chair to go turn off the lights off as his complaints continued.  
"Just get some sleep, Mr. Lord. Maybe you'll feel better about things tomorrow." Pamela smiled at him even as Lord realized that his coffee had once again carried the slight taste that came from sleeping pills being crushed into them.  
"Troublesome woman…" Lord couldn't help a fond smile coming to his face as he drifted off into sleep, his thoughts full of the impossibility of trying to fight Kara Danvers.  
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Fifth Dimensional beings, as their name implied, were not constrained by the same laws of space as third dimensional beings were. Their forms were abstract, more like feelings and states of mind than any true bodies, but that didn't mean they couldn't take forms when they wanted to.  
Or in this case, were forced to.  
Bob's simple library had been morphed into a deserted wasteland. The stink of burning flesh was everywhere, and the air was suffocating with heat and smoke. It would have been an unbearable hell for any third dimensional beings.  
For Fifth Dimensional Beings, it was little more than an annoyance.  
There were six of them in total, all clothed in humanoid forms that, as a tribute to their vanity, were impossibly graceful, though they were as featureless as dolls. They were the High Lords, a collection of beings that observed every possible universe, that had unfathomable power at the tips of their fingers.  
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" Bob appeared in a puff of smoke shaped like a mushroom cloud, clothed in similarly ornate robes as the High Lords. "I would like to welcome the Lords of Nothing to my humble abode. Would anyone like some hellfire, I'm sure that we have some around here. Oh, how about some eternal torment? I'm sure I can throw something together."  
One of the Lord's faces twisted into a snarl, and its hand lashed out at Bob. In a flash of light, and a fundamental feeling of wrongness, the hellish landscape melted away, leaving an endless white void behind that they all floated in.  
Bob pouted, a look that looked profoundly disturbing on a grown man's face. "That was mean. I put a lot of work into that landscape, Charm." He chastised.  
The being Bob called Charm sneered at Bob once again, and its fingers twitched in a clearly threatening gesture. One of the other beings held up a hand, and their wills silently waged for an unidentifiable amount of time before both of their hands fell by their sides.  
Bob smiled serenely at the six. "Its good to see that you're able to control your bitch, Strange. I know sometimes Up has some trouble controlling Down, so good on you!"  
A feeling of unescapable pressure imposed itself over the white void, the force of five Fifth Dimensional Beings focusing all of their malice and disappointment squarely on Bob. In return, Bob yawned and scratched his belly indecently.  
"You done?" He asked, unimpressed. The pressure slowly dissipated as it became clear that Bob was not going to be intimidated. Finally, one of the other Lords spoke up, its voice dispassionate.  
"You insult us by hiding in that form." Bottom intoned slowly. "Remove it."  
Bob snorted. "Well, we all have our preferred forms. I just happen to choose mine for reasons other than pure arrogance."  
"You are an adult imitating the dress and style of a child. It is crude and disgusting. Remove it." Bottom demanded again.  
Bob rolled his eyes even as he bared his teeth. With a motion almost akin to taking off a jacket, Bob removed his form. In a blur of movement, Robert Johansson's soulless corpse collapsed onto the ground, and a form of pure energy pulled its tendrils out, 'stepping' back.  
"Is this any better?" As its crackling and snapping voice resolved into a nasally whine, the crimson light resolved itself into a pale young man dressed in a slick black suit, his ebony hair styled into two peaks.  
In the blink of an eye (or whatever a Fifth Dimensional being may have), the corpse of Robert Johansson was stolen away. The young man stamped a foot, looking genuinely upset for the first time they met, an ugly flush covering his face. "Hey, that was mine, I won it fair and square! Up, give it back!"  
"While Down might believe it insulting to pretend to be human, I find it insulting that you disrespect a man such as Robert Johannsson. You may no longer use his body or name." Up commanded.  
The young man pouted, and the expression somehow managed to look even more disturbing now. "Fine, I'll just go trick another version of him then…" He mumbled, kicking the 'ground' of the white void.  
Down and Up simultaneously opened their mouths, but were cut off from the Fifth Dimensional being that stood before all the others holding up a single hand. "I believe that we should get to the point of this meeting." Top's voice was steady and blank, just as the other's had been, yet it carried an unmistakable air of warning.  
The young man shrugged, looking innocent and reasonable. "Well, I'm not sure why exactly any of you care to meddle in my business. You all have never cared before if I've interfered with various universes. Hell, I know for a fact that you all find the dimensions I do meddle with to be far more entertaining."  
"Just because chaos is entertaining for you does not mean it is so for us." Up said, its voice almost taking on an upset tone. "We monitor your dimensions to make sure they do not get too out of hand. But now…"  
"You have interfered too much." Top continued, cutting off Up smoothly. "You have overstepped the freedom we have given you as a former High Lord, and it is an imminent threat to other universes."  
The young man smirked cruelly. "As if you care about anything that lives in any universe, Top. You all are just worried about your own asses because I messed with your stupid precautions."  
Silence reigned in the white void, and the young man's smirk grew. Finally, Top continued.  
"You will cease interfering with anyone that is involved with the Speed Force. They must not be allowed to learn of our existence."  
The young man whistled. "Wow, you actually admitted you think someone's a threat. That's a real symbol of maturity. But you don't give a shit if I talk with Hunter Zolomon or Jay Garrick, do you? Or is it just Barry Allen you're concerned about?"  
"There is no human that could possibly threaten us." Bottom intoned confidently.  
"Geez, you guys really need to pick better High Lords. You're a moron if you think nothing can hurt you, Bottom. The others just know who they need to look out for after the Barry Allen of Earth-76."  
Bottom paused. "…Earth-76 was terminated because of the growing presence of Omega Level threats." None of the other High Lords confirmed or denied his words.  
The young man's smile grew, and he began to rub his hands together gleefully. "Nope!" he said cheerfully. "None of the High Lords were the ones who destroyed that dimension, Bottom. That was all the work of Barry Allen."  
Silence reigned. Managing to destroy an entire universe was something nearly unheard of for anyone outside of the High Lords themselves.  
"That still does not provide sufficient reason to fear him." Bottom defended. "Not even we High Lords can harm one another."  
The young man nodded, his smile dimming. "You're right. Just destroying a dimension…" He made a dismissive gesture. "You all do that for breakfast. But the reason that dimension was destroyed was because he was trying to take care of a little pest who was, oh I don't know, the previous person to hold your position?"  
Bottom slowly turned to the other High Lords, his features still expressionless. "I was informed that the previous Lord to hold my position grew tired of observing universes and was allowed to fade."  
Top stepped forwards and its presence focused on the young man, its might greater than the combined strength of the other five High Lords. The young man buckled slightly, and shock displayed itself openly on his face.  
"You will leave any iterations of Barry Allen alone, especially the one you have already interfered with. You have already been bound to this dimension as your punishment, and it was only by our generosity that we did not do anything more, Klarion. If you test us we will truly find out whether a Fifth Dimensional being can kill a demon."  
Klarion the Witch Boy's face went slack at the threat that Top had dared utter to his face. He snarled, a bestial sound of rage and hatred. His pupils stretched and distorted like flickering flames, and his fingers stretched into grotesque claws. His power began to thrum in the white void.  
He had the perfect threat to articulate his rage, but the Lords of Nothing disappeared before he could do anything to them. He screeched in rage and let his power rage, warping the white void around him into a chaotic display of bloody fractals.  
Klarion considered tricking another version of Robert Johannsson out of his body, but that game was done with. Disguising himself as a human had actually done a great deal to contain his destructive urges, and that control allowed him to set up the pieces in just the way that he needed them. Klarion conjured a window into Earth-38, where Barry Allen was holding up the remains of his destroyed tachyon device. Klarion regarded the man with a mixture of glee and malice.  
Yes, things were just as he needed them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Kara was worried. Barry hadn't said a word since he had shown her the remains of his tachyon device. He had immediately gone into rounding up all the other aliens and everyone had gone back to DEO HQ, with various agents putting away all the aliens, and processing the humans who had been involved.  
As it was, only Kara, Alex, Barry, Mon-El and J'onn were seated at the meeting table. Winn was off helping the other agents. Everyone was oddly quiet, each for different reasons.  
Finally, it was Mon-El, the person who looked the most uncomfortable, who broke the silence. "So, Kara, can you do mind stuff too?"  
Kara stared at the Daxamite, completely confused. "Like…Jedi stuff?" She asked. "I mean, I tried a couple times, but no, I can't."  
"I have no idea what Jedis are." Mon-El confessed.  
"Er….they're a group of monks, in space, who can control people with their minds and lift rocks." Kara supplied, thrown for a loop. This was not how she had expected the conversation to go.  
Mon-El looked horrified. "They're not real." Kara quickly assured him. No one else said anything else, and Kara could feel the silence crystalize in between them. J'onn was too wrapped up in finding another Green Martian, Mon-El had just been kidnapped, Barry's only way home had been destroyed, and Alex was still mad at her.  
"So what can you do, Mon-El?" She burst out desperately, not wanting everyone to just stew in their negative emotions. "With your…mind stuff?"  
Everyone's attention focused on the Daxamite, and it seemed to pull him together slightly. "I'm not sure if its really minds like how J'onn does it." He hedged. "It's more…emotions. I can sort of feel all of what you all are feeling right now, and I can push my emotions into other people."  
"That's not something I've ever heard of any telepaths to be capable of. Normally one has to connect to another's mind to see what they're feeling." J'onn mused.  
Alex leaned forward intently. She always did love having something new to play with. "Do other people's emotions change your emotions? Can you specify who it is you push your emotions into? Can you take the emotions out of someone else?"  
Mon-El blinked, slightly confused, which Kara understood. Alex hadn't shown this much interest in his powers when it was just strength and invulnerability, because she had seen it before, so this sudden interest from someone so restrained normally was odd.  
"Uh, no, they don't change my emotions, it's just like…I can feel them, like they're….wind? No, like they're…colors? I don't know." He muttered, clearly getting frustrated. "Like, a minute ago I could feel Kara's panic, but I didn't know why because there wasn't any context."  
"Wait a minute." Alex said sharply, "You can feel Kara's emotions."  
Mon-El was just getting more and more confused by the minute. "Yeah, like I said, I can feel all your emotions, Kara's not any different."  
Kara immediately caught on to Alex's angle. J'onn couldn't read Kara's mind, or influence her like he could every other life form that wasn't Kryptonian, yet Mon-El's power seemed to bypass that. It was somewhat worrying, if Mon-El ever turned on them he might be able to make her go crazy. That is, if he could influence other people's emotions beyond just shoving his own into them.  
"As for specifying who I push my emotions into…yeah, I can do that pretty well. As for taking other people's emotions…" He shrugged. "I don't know."  
"What did it feel like?" J'onn asked suddenly. "To not have emotions?"  
Mon-El shuddered slightly, even as his eyes glazed over in a way reminiscent of a druggie. "It was great." He got out. "All my doubts, insecurities and fears just went away."  
"Hard to believe you had those in the first place." Alex said dryly.  
Mon-El didn't respond to her words. "But it was also like…I didn't really care about what was right or wrong. Or like, if something felt good, I should keep doing it. I just…" He shook his head slightly, coming back to himself. "It was great, but it was also awful."  
Kara found herself almost sickeningly curious. "Try it." She ordered. Everyone at the table gave her a blank look. "Try it on me. The taking out emotions thing." She clarified.  
"Absolutely not." J'onn said immediately. "We don't need your mental faculties messed with again."  
Kara felt a spark of irritation at the Martian. She knew the risks, but Mon-El himself was clearly fine now, and they needed to figure out if his powers would affect her anyway. But she couldn't say that in front of Mon-El, so she just looked the Daxamite in the eyes.  
"Mon-El, who are you more afraid of? Me, or J'onn?"  
The change was immediate. It was like going from a loud, crowded terminal to a completely silent, soundproofed room. Kara looked around at the table, and everyone was looking at her with concern. The only one who wasn't was Mon-El, who looked somewhat strained.  
"What?" She asked. "What's wrong?"  
"Are you…okay?" Alex asked softly, as if afraid to set Kara off. Which was silly, because the whole point was to take Kara's emotions. And last she checked, anger was an emotion.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Great, actually." She could see why Mon-El liked it like this. It was relaxing to not have anything to worry about. So many things seemed clear to her now. She took a deep breath-  
-And her emotions slammed back into her. Her worry about leaving National City, her appreciation for sticky buns, her grief over her planet dying, her love for her sister, it all slid back into place in her head, squashing whatever revelation she had just had between them.  
Mon-El exhaled heavily and began rubbing his temples. "Yeah, that's a lot harder." He admitted. "And it actually requires me to feel whatever she's feeling, so I'd rather not do that again."  
Barry snorted. "I bet that wasn't weird at all." He spoke for the first time, and Kara was surprised to see that he seemed merely resigned rather than devastated, as she would have expected from someone whose only way home had been broken.  
"You have no idea. I've never been hungrier in my life than the minute I spent feeling Kara Danvers's hunger."  
Kara cringed slightly as everyone chuckled.  
"I'm actually feeling pretty hungry too." Barry admitted. "I'll be right back."  
"No, Mr. Allen, stay right-" In a flash of blue and red, Barry was gone, and J'onn slumped back into his chair. "-there." He finished unnecessarily. He sighed, and rubbed his face. "You shouldn't have done that without my permission." He chastised Mon-El.  
The Daxamite shrugged. "To be honest, you scare me a lot less than Kara, J'onn."  
Kara nodded approvingly. "Damn right."  
J'onn gave her a tired look, then turned back to Mon-El. "I mean because you have little experience with your powers. Even though your powers lean more towards empathic than telepathic, you can still initiate a mind meld."  
"For us non-Martians, what does that mean?" Kara asked.  
"A mind-meld is when two people link their minds, as the name suggests, but the danger comes from an improper mind meld, where the two peoples' sense of identity become intermingled, and they can forget which person they were originally." To Kara's surprise, the answer came not from J'onn, but from Alex. At Kara's disbelieving look her sister shrugged. "I do my homework."  
"Exactly." J'onn said firmly. "You accidently did it twice today, first with me, and then later I could feel you do it with Mr. Allen. With how untrained you are I wouldn't be surprised if you accidently created a mind meld whenever you make eye contact with someone."  
Mon-El looked justifiably horrified at the prospect of losing his identity. "How do I make sure that doesn't happen?" He demanded.  
"You work with me to control it." J'onn answered. "We'll work your mental powers just how we can work your physical powers, so that you don't hurt yourself or others."  
At that moment, there was another blur of motion, and there were a dozen pizza boxes stacked on the table, and Barry dropped into his seat with a groan. "You would not believe how hard it is to get a dozen pizzas in National City at this time of night."  
Everyone quickly tucked into their late dinner, and the mood was much more aimiable than it had been before their conversation, especially once Winn arrived to have a slice, though Kara could see Mon-El's eyes moving between Kara and Alex, clearly wary. Barry remained blissfully oblivious, and Kara and Barry engaged in a brief contest to see who could eat the most food faster.  
She won, of course.  
"This is bullshit." Barry pouted.  
"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Kara crowed gleefully.  
"The game you came up with."  
"Yeah, well you should have known better than to challenge me."  
"Well excuse me for thinking that you should have at least occasionally breathed."  
"'He who breathes least wins'. I believe Sun Tzu said that."  
"You just made that up."  
"Made up like the challenge that I beat you at."  
Mon-El snapped his fingers loudly, drawing the two heroes' attention away from their bickering. Mon-El looked like he had just cracked some complex puzzle. "I get it now! See, I thought Earth mating rituals were more complex, cause you two weren't propositioning each other right away, but now that I see it, you two are just as obvious with your intentions as any other Daxamite." He nodded to himself, secure in his knowledge.  
Kara tried to physically push down the blood from rushing to her face, but had a feeling it didn't work. Instead, she just scooted away from Barry, having noticed for the first time that they had been scooting their chairs closer to one another during the argument.  
Her eyes bounced around the room for a minute, taking in Alex's smirk, Winn's snickering, and J'onn's steadfast staring at his plate before seeing Barry, who was equally red faced, with a jittery smile on his face.  
"What do you mean by 'intents', Lar?" He asked. Ah, that's right, Lar was the name Winn and Barry had agreed to give Mon-El.  
"Eh, I don't know the word for it. Kara, how would you say h'imlah in English?"  
Kara buried her face in her hands.  
"I believe the most accurate term would be 'bang', buddy." Winn supplied helpfully.  
"Thanks, Winn. Yeah, it's pretty obvious that you two want to bang buddy."  
"ANYway." Kara interrupted. "How about…uh, these fighting rings? How did we not know about them?"  
The playful air dissipated, and everyone pulled themselves together. J'onn cleared his throat, and the Martian actually seemed ashamed. "The thing is…we've known about the existence of alien fighting rings for quite a while now." He held up a hand to forestall any comment. "However, because of Supergirl's presence these last few months, we did not think there would be any way that they would be so brazen as to set one up in National City."  
"That makes sense. From what I've seen, National City is pretty quiet." Lar said, blissfully ignorant for the most part. Everyone else ignored him.  
"But there have been others?" Kara pressed.  
J'onn nodded. "Yes. Other than independent alien crimes, its been one of the main problems our agents across the US have had to deal with for the past few years. In most areas, we've only had moderate success, but they've been getting craftier, and getting their hands on higher tech."  
Something about that statement struck Kara as odd. "What do you mean, most areas?"  
"The DEO cannot put agents everywhere that we want to." Alex said. "There are certain places, cities for the most part, that we simply cannot go because of the presence of powerful hostile powers."  
"Clark would never do anything to make things easier for these people." Kara said immediately.  
"Definitely not." J'onn agreed. "While Clark and I have our differences, he is still a good man." The for now went unsaid but not unheard, and he continued. "But he's still not exactly friendly towards us, and we saw today how easily a Kryptonian can overlook this sort of thing during their normal crime fighting."  
Kara shifted in her chair. She knew it wasn't a chastisement, but she still should have noticed something as serious as kidnapping going on before this.  
"Wait a minute…You just called 'Clark' a Kryptonian, and the only other Kryptonian is Superman…" Winn muttered, eyes going wide. He actually seemed to be shaking. "Is…is Superman Clark Kent?"  
Kara sighed. Now Winn was probably going to start stalking her cousin's civilian persona as well as his superhero one. No one denied his theory, which the former IT guy took as confirmation, and Alex continued where J'onn had left off.  
"But Clark in Metropolis isn't the only city we haven't been able to get to. Winn…Winn! Could you stop fanboy-ing for a moment and pull up our info on Gotham and Chicago?"  
It took a few minutes, but Winn pulled up the necessary info, and Kara quickly took in the information. On the left screen was the information on Gotham, and all the information they had on their 'Dark Knight'. The best photo showed the light sliding off of dark fabric and glinting off of cold metal, buffed to take the shine out of it. The Knight was wearing what was either a hood, or a mask, Kara couldn't tell. According to the information, he had easily put away a few hundred criminals over the past few years, even people who would qualify as supervillains like the Joker or Scarecrow.  
The most information they had was from Gotham's Police Department, a cop named Jim Gordan who had actually met the Dark Knight. 'I've never met anyone so terrifying,' his testimony said 'the Dark Knight came out of nowhere, told me where to pick up the Joker, and vanished.'   
The Dark Knight was simply too unpredictable to try and work around, and no one other than Gordon had heard more than five words out of him.  
The other guy was more…bizarre.  
"So…the guys' a magician?" Barry asked, completely baffled. Kara shared in his confusion. The other picture was much more clear: a tall man dressed as a stage magician, who had slick black hair underneath his top hat and a neat black mustache. The picture was clearly taken from quite high up, and yet the man was staring directly into the lens. It was quite unnerving.  
"He actually prefers to go by wizard." Alex said flatly. "His name is Giovanni Zatara."  
Alex's info didn't help Kara's confusion any. "Does his wand shoot lasers?" She asked dubiously, eyeing the black and white instrument the man was holding in every photo (which was surprisingly not a lot). "Is it alien tech?"  
"Sometimes. It depends on what the situation requires. We don't know if he's actually magic or if he's an alien with really diverse powers, but he's not shy about his belief that he's magic. It's actually his job."  
At Alex's request, Winn pulled up a page called wizard-for-hire, which was an honest to Rao website where the man advertised his services as a magical practitioner (no love potions), with his face, name and work address on it.  
"Well, at least he doesn't suck the life out of people." Barry commented. Everyone gave him a questioning look. "There's magic in my dimension too. Damien Darhk. Nasty stuff."  
"So you're saying this guy is powerful enough that you're as wary of him as the Dark Knight and Clark?" Kara wondered. She could understand being scared of a brutal guy who wasn't shy with the throwing stars, but she could barely take this Zatara guy seriously. Then again, she wore a red skirt and blue top to fight crime.  
Nah, she pulled it off.  
"Yes, and while we couldn't have a base in any of these places, we at least expected that their presence would also push away any other aliens that might stir up trouble there. However, the fighting ring here in national city had almost three times the aliens as any of the other rings we've found in smaller cities. They may have been using these cities as our blind spots for months." Alex said grimly.  
J'onn wiped the pizza grease from his mouth. "Then we're going to have to investigate immediately. We can't send in large forces, it'd be too conspicuous. For Metropolis it will suffice to alert Superman to the circumstances, but for the others we need small, elite squads to go into each city and investigate for fighting rings. If they find any, Kara, Mr. Allen and I can be in and out before either the Knight or Zatara get there."  
Barry looked serious. "You said that these fighting rings were set up where there's lots of rich people, right?"  
"Yes, why?" J'onn asked.  
"And is Gotham where Wayne Enterprises is based?" Barry asked, blatantly ignoring J'onn's question.  
"Yes, why?"  
"I've got a promise to fulfill to someone. Looks like I'm going to Gotham City."  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
"Cisco, why is Barry not on the screen anymore?"   
"I don't know, he just disappeared, and he's not answering his coms!"  
"People don't just disappear for no reason, Cisco!"  
"Well…it is Barry. I wouldn't put it past him."  
"Not. Funny."  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Barry, as the person who had gotten the pizza, was in charge of cleaning the mess up, though he suspected it was also because J'onn didn't like that he wouldn't tell who his promise was to about going to Gotham. It also helped that he could get it done in seconds. However, now that his suit had tears in it, superspeed was only tearing it more, so he had to change into civilian clothes and walk all the way down to the street to put them in the recycle, as no bin inside would hold the twelve pizza boxes.  
To his surprise, Kara had volunteered to go down with him, despite her obvious tiredness, and no amount of insisting he could do it himself would get her to go home.  
The two stepped out into the cool midnight air of National City and began walking to the alley where the recycle bin was.  
"You know I could have handled this myself. I may not be strong, but cardboard is pretty light." Barry joked, trying not to shiver. National City was much colder than Central City. Or maybe it was this Earth that was colder?  
"Yeah, well I didn't want to take any chances." Kara teased. "They say you shouldn't lift too much without a spotter. Oh right, you're a nerd. A spotter is-"  
"I know what a spotter is Kara."  
"Yeah, but where do you know it from?"  
"…Television."  
"Point proven. Could you open the lid?"  
Rolling his eyes with a grin, Barry opened the lid. No amount of strength would make Kara any taller, so at least in that he had the advantage.  
The two unloaded the boxes, and Barry made back for the streets until he noticed that Kara wasn't with him. He looked back and saw Kara with an unusually serious look on her face.  
"Kara? You okay?" He asked worriedly. She had been taking some pretty hard hits earlier, but couldn't she heal fast too?  
"I'm fine, Barry, I'm just wondering how you're able to act so normal after…" She gestured to his jacket pocket, where they both knew were the remains of his tachyon device.  
Barry shrugged with an ease he didn't totally feel. "Well, I've always been able to improve on my speed naturally. This just helped with that, especially since I've been getting a better handle on pulling on the Speed Force. It'll take more time for me to get faster, but it'll still work."  
He gave her a grin. "So, it looks like you may be stuck with me for a little while longer."  
Kara didn't smile back, looking surprised instead, and Barry felt a shiver of dread. "I mean, if it's okay if I can keep staying at your place for a while, I mean- "  
"-nonono, that's fine." Kara quickly waved off his concern, understanding his panic. "It's just…you needed both your speed and my strength to reach the speed to break the dimensional barrier, right? I mean, you'll probably reach that speed, but aren't you concerned?"  
Barry cleared his throat, stuck his hands in his pockets and looked away. "Actually…" He muttered.  
Kara raised an eyebrow and said nothing, clearly expectant.  
"Well…after I broke through the first time and doing some research, I figured out that what I actually need to do is control my vibrations to match the dimension I'm trying to get to. As long as I control my vibrations, I don't breach."  
"Then…why did you have me push you?" Kara asked, clearly confused.  
In the cool air, Barry's burning face felt even hotter than normal. Come on you idiot, you confessed your love to a committed woman you knew for years, this should not be harder. "…I wanted you to be the last thing that I saw in this dimension." He admitted.  
Kara froze like a deer caught in the headlights, and in the darkness Barry couldn't really make out the color of her face, but he had a feeling she was as red as him.  
The moment extended to uncomfortable lengths, and Barry found himself flashing back to their race. Or more accurately, what had occurred immediately beforehand. Their almost-but-not-quite-totally-not-a-fullfillment-of-sexual-tension-kiss.  
The silence was broken by the sound of ringing. They both jumped, and Kara immediately digged out her phone, putting it to her ear. "This is Kara's phone."  
She listened for a moment, then pulled it away and switched on speakerphone.  
"Barry, I need you to come back up. Apparently, you can't wear your suit anymore, and I need to make you a new one before you leave for Gotham. Which is tomorrow, so we have no time to waste."   
Kara winced, and gave him a sympathetic look that Barry didn't understand. Winn wasn't that bad about his suits, right?  
"Hey Winn, you could've just come down here yourself." Kara teased Winn. "I know Barry can't use his speed in normal clothes, but surely you're not that slow."  
"Yeah, but I had a feeling that you two might be together."   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Kara let the window swing open as she flew through her window back into her darkened apartment. After the Non incident staying awake for a long time had a whole new meaning, but she was still tired. Barry was still at the DEO, getting manhandled by Winn, so she was alone.  
She groaned, and fell onto her bed.  
It was so comfortable that it took her a few minutes to realize that this bed was in the middle of her living room, which was not normally where her bed was. She sat up and walked to her bedroom, where her bed was lying as it normally was. She glanced back over at the other bed, which had been set underneath one of the windows behind the couch, but still with enough room so that it wasn't awkward. She spied a letter on her counter and opened it, finding familiar neat handwriting.  
Kara,   
I hope you don't mind, but I let myself in. I thought the least I could do after getting you another bed is to set it up properly. Wouldn't be much of a gift if I left you to do all the work. As I understand Barry and you are currently comfortable with your arrangement I figured you'd want your couch back. And we can't have the Flash running around with a bad back from sleeping on that thing.   
Anyway, I hope things have been going okay in between the time I returned to Metropolis and you got this letter, though with our kind of lives, I doubt it. Still, I'm glad you have people like Alex, Barry, Winn and even J'onn to have your back. I may not have been as much a part of your life as I should have been, but I'm glad that you've found your place in National City, just as I've found my place in Metropolis. I'm proud of you, Kara. Stay safe.   
Love,  
Kal-El   
PS: Remind Barry that no mater how fast he runs, my heat vision is faster  
Kara couldn't help but grin at her cousin's words and his well wishes. But more than that, it reminded her of the revelation she had had when she was emotionless.  
The Department of Extraterrestrial Operations wouldn't to go into Metropolis because it was the home of Superman. Well, she would make sure that villains wouldn't go into National City, because it was the home of Supergirl.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Hello everyone, and welcome to another installment of Flip a Coin, which just broke 100,000 words! Yay! I know some of you may have noticed that this chapter is much smaller than the other chapters, and that's because I wanted to bang this out quickly for those of you who have been waiting patiently, and now that I'm passed this section hopefully I can pick up my updating speed again.   
Lots of stuff went down in this chapter. We found out that Bob is really Klarion the Witch Boy, that both Batman and Zatara exist in this universe, and that Lar has empathic powers!... Okay, I know the empathic powers are weird. My reasoning for this is twofold.   
-I felt Lar's powerset needed rounding out. In the comics he has the same powers as Superman, no stronger, no weaker, so just downgrading him from a Flying Brick to a weaker Brick with a weakness to bullets, but I also didn't want to make him too outright powerful, and empathetic powers will help his character.   
-There is precedence for it. Sort of. When Lar is shot off into space, he had the ability to 'project' himself to Earth to observe what was going on, which is sort of what happened when Lar was in the pod at the DEO. However, J'onn is already downgraded enough without someone shoehorning in on his telepathic powers, so Lar gets empathic powers instead, which J'onn can help him with.   
I'm getting so antsy, I've wanted to do the Gotham chapter ever since Chapter Two, and Kara and Barry are getting closer all the time!  
Special shout out to anyone who gets what the High Lords are named after as well as who Zatara's basis is lifted from! And always remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE, and REVIEW!


	8. Gotham

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Supergirl and the Flash meet their Gotham counterpart

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_Day 10_

"You don't _have_ to come, Kara." Alex's suitcase bounced on one of the many cracks that littered the walkways outside the National City Airport, but she kept it firmly behind her.

Likewise, her sister stayed firmly beside her, lugging her own, considerably smaller suitcase. It was a benefit of not having to pack armor and other equipment, just her own outfits and other essentials. "Too late for me to change my mind, I already bought a ticket." Kara waved the paper in her sister's face, hoping to get a normal snarky reaction out of her sister.

Instead, Alex kept looking ahead, not even glancing at Kara. "At this point, you can still get a refund on your ticket. Besides, shouldn't you stick around for a few more days? You just got Carr's go ahead last night with your 'master article', shouldn't you stick around to prove your commitment?"

Kara's smile faltered. Alex's behavior had been decidedly cool since last night, even after Kara had called to tell her that she was staying in National City. Kara had hoped that would have put them back at their regular levels of sisterly love, but apparently that was not the case. That was partially why she was going.

Besides, she wasn't leaving her sister in a city with enemies of unknown strength and a magic ninja.

"Yeah, but most of what Carr wants me to work on before actually publishing me is style. At least, that's all I could make out through his grumblings. Besides, I bet there's no end of things to report on in Gotham. Even with the Dark Knight, the crime rates are unbelievable." Kara pointed out.

Alex grunted, and continued their course. Behind the two, Kara heard someone breathing heavily. "You okay, Winn?" She called back.

"Yeah…fine!" The DEO agent gasped out. He was laden with significantly more than luggage than either of the two women. Apparently, the mission was part of his field training, and that required a lot of materials, plus Winn still wanted to work on Barry's suit while they were in Gotham. That left the man lugging around two full suitcases, nearly full to bursting.

"….You sure you don't want help?" Kara dropped back to ask. "You know it would be literally nothing for me to carry that, right?"

"Nope, I'm good." Winn grunted. "Apparently ribbing Barry about improving his upper body strength is a lot easier than actually using improving own."

Kara snorted. "Both of you could stand to maybe take a couple tips from Alex. Or J'onn. Or Lar." She suggested helpfully. Even as she spoke, her attention drifted back to the morning earlier. Barry had once again slept on the couch when he had gotten to the apartment, despite the presence of a whole other bed. He had later explained, rather sheepishly, that he hadn't wanted to assume the bed was for him.

"I see now that mentioning Barry was a bad idea." Winn muttered, smirking slightly even as he struggled with the bags.

"What do you mean?" Kara quickly snapped out of her memories, keeping her face as normal as possible. She was done blushing where Barry Allen was concerned.

"Because you get this stupid grin on your face and stare off into space." Winn shot back.

Kara opened her mouth to come up with a response, then released that there _was_ a grin on her face, and she had decidedly been staring off into space a moment ago. Unable to come up with a response, she sped up again to catch up with her sister.

Winn chuckled at his victory, and then hit a network of cracks that twisted one of his bags out of his grip. In his haste to grab it, the other one slipped out of his hands as well, and both slammed into his legs, bringing him to the ground.

"Uh, a little help?"

Neither Alex nor Kara looked back at the man, keeping the same pace.

"Kara? Alex? Come on, this is not cool!"

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"I have so much more respect for you now, Kara, you have no idea." Barry said into his DEO-issued phone, using his free hand to take bites out of his burger. Eating his own meal at the desk across from him, Charles doing his best to look like he wasn't eavesdropping.

" _I think I do have some idea, Barry. Remember, I was basically his first guinea pig."_ Kara said dryly. _"At least you got a working version after the first few hours, it took weeks just to get something that would allow me to fly properly."_

"Yeah, well at least his first attempt for you wasn't just a red speedo."

Barry heard Kara snort on the other end of the line. _"You'd be surprised. What was his reasoning behind that one?"_

"Apparently minimalism, and easily replaceable. I don't have the same advantages as you, mine has to be stylish _and_ durable. Granted, Winn was the one who insisted on it being stylish in the first place."

For some reason that Winn couldn't figure out, any material that wasn't too loose wasn't susceptible to either friction or wind shear when Kara wore it. Her cape was the exception, after all it was made of Kryptonian materials, and somehow that made it almost as invulnerable as Kara herself. Barry's suit, however, had to be capable of withstanding speeds multiple times the speed of sound, and all the effects that came with it.

That was apparently a lot to demand from cloth.

Luckily for Barry, Winn had been sketching out designs and theorizing materials ever since they had met, just a scant ten days ago, and the DEO had access to a lot of oddly specific materials, so Barry had managed to get away from Winn's tape measures and experimental suits at around five in the morning. On one level, Barry admired Winn's zeal, considering the new DEO was also going to Gotham as a junior agent under Alex's guidance. On the other, he was now incredibly thankful that Cisco's suits weren't nearly as...invasive.

" _Don't worry, Barry, I'm sure your suit will be plenty stylish. Not as stylish as mine, of course, but I just don't think you can pull off a skirt."_

"How dare you. I could _totally_ pull of a skirt! It would just be awkward to run in."

" _Sure, sure."_ Kara 'agreed'. Before Barry could come up with a response, Kara changed the subject. _"By the way, when do you think you'll be able to get here? We've already got checked in to our hotel."_

Barry checked the clock on the wall, showing it was just about quitting time. "I should be there within…" Barry did some calculations in his head. He was getting faster every day, so it should take him… "30 minutes or so." He concluded. He didn't want to make any sonic booms after all. "Why?"

" _Er, just wanting to know when we should have food ready."_ Kara said hastily. _"Winn is pretty much just staying in the room tonight to work on your costume, and Alex is out surveying the city, so I'm the one in charge of dinner tonight."_

"Surprised that Alex is cool with you being the one in charge of food."

" _Consider your next words very carefully, Barry."_ Kara warned.

"Kara, I think we both know that if I hadn't been cooking for the past week, there's a fifty percent chance that you just would have gotten donuts or pizza."

" _There is no way that you've had time to come up with that statistic."_

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, Kara: I am a scientist. It's what we do."

" _Yeah, but you're a forensic scientist. I doubt you do anything involving food statistics."_

"Really? Well, as a _scientist_ , I'm going to test that hypothesis." Barry removed the phone from his ear and covered the receiver. "Charles, I'm going to need you to agree to everything that I say for the next five minutes."

Charles looked for a moment like he would say no, simply to preserve the idea that he hadn't been listening to the conversation, but he gave quickly. "Yeah, sure."

Barry switched the phone to speaker mode. "Hey, Charles, can forensic scientists come up with statistics at the drop of a hat? You know, because we're so good at science in general?"

"Of course, Barry." Charles replied smoothly. "And you can tell that is the truth because, as a scientist, I am obligated to tell the truth, as well as making everything quicker and more convenient in every aspect of life."

Barry made a loud show of breathing in through his nose so that Kara could definitely hear him. "Can you smell that, Kara? That's the smell of fresh baked truth. Maybe you could put that on the list for dinner."

" _Barry, I'm sure we both know that I have a remarkable sense of smell, and all I can smell is bullshit."_

Charles started cackling, and Barry couldn't resist grinning either as he switched the phone off of speakerphone. "Seriously though, I'm sure whatever you have in mind will be fine. Just remember, most humans need actual nutrition." He joked.

" _I'm pretty sure that Alex would be happier eating her nutrition bars, and I'm completely convinced Winn has snacks squirreled away somewhere."_

"Well, just for politeness sake, probably something other than donuts. If I keep hanging around you, I might get diabetes."

" _Like you care about calories."_

"I guess you're right. After all, I have taken up jogging recently." As he made it, Barry couldn't help but feel like he had made that joke before. Oh well, there were only so many inside jokes one could make about superspeed.

Barry heard Kara snort from the other end of the line and could just picture her smile. _"Double meanings are, undoubtedly, the best part of being a hero."_

"While I could certainly argue for some other upsides, I'm going to have to agree with you there." Barry ceded. His eyes flickered to the clock and realized he had just spent the past few minutes just bantering on the phone. "Anyways, I'll see you in a bit."

" _See you, Barry. Try not to swallow any flies on the way over."_

Click.

Barry got up and stretched, already antsy to get going. He finished off his burger (which had started to get cold during the bantering) and cleaned off the rest of his desk.

"I am positively shocked that you didn't do the 'you hang up', 'no you hang up' bit." Charles deadpanned. The man was also done with his work but made no move to get up. He never really seemed to leave the lab unless it was to gather forensic evidence or sleep. Hell, Barry brought in all the food for the two of them.

Barry shrugged off the joke with as much ease as he could muster, which was not much. "Not dating, remember?" He reminded his friend.

Charles jaw hung open and his hand clutched the front of his shirt. "And yet you live under the same roof? Shame! Shame upon you, heathen!" He dipped his fingers in his water cup and flicked the drops at Barry as if it were holy water and he a demon.

Barry rolled his eyes at the man's antics. How one could go from deadly serious to joking in the blink of an eye was a mystery to him, even after knowing Cisco, Winn and Charles. He balled up his trash and dropped it into the oddly empty bin. "See you tomorrow, Charles."

Charles's face twisted in distaste as he regarded the trash in the bin. "Yeah…." He echoed. Barry's brow furrowed at the odd behavior, and Charles's face turned sheepish as he saw the confusion.

"Sorry, it's a personal pet peeve of mine. I mean, both of us understand how much you can learn about a person from their trash, yeah?"

Barry shrugged. It was occasionally required of forensic scientists to dig through a suspect's trash to glean something about their activities but trying to prevent the same from happening to him had never occurred to him. "Yeah, I guess."

"I mean, you never know what kind of person might want to get some dirt on the handsome head forensic scientist, right?" Charles puffed out his chest, but Barry could clearly see that he was trying to cover up his uneasiness with a joke.

"The only person weird enough to just go through random people's trash is you, Charles." Barry joked back. Maybe tomorrow he could try and dig a little deeper into Charles's paranoia, but he sensed now was not the time.

"Please, I don't go through random people's trash." Charles scoffed. "I go through _everyone's_ trash."

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"Alright, Agent Schott, name the four steps to confronting a rogue metahuman." Alex cracked out.

"Uh…Step one, assess the situation and classify powers. Step two…run?"

Alex sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Winn, did you not do the reading I have you last night?"

"Hey, I was busy!" Winn defended. "Suits don't just make themselves!"

"Alright, then what were you doing while I was out patrolling? Barry already has his suit."

Winn wilted slightly under Alex's gaze. "Working on another suit for Barry." He muttered. But the IT guy turned DEO agent puffed himself back up. "But that's because it still needs improvements! Right, Barry?"

The attention in the room turned to one Barry Allen, who froze with a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth. He was still dressed in the V1 Flash suit Winn had made for him, which was basically multiple layers of regular, tight fitting cloth reinforced to hell. Since it was based off of DEO technology, it was mostly dark clothing, which was admittedly less eye catching than bright red or blue.

Barry didn't set down the slice. "I'm staying out of this." He then continued to eat, basically ignoring the two in favor of snatching another piece of pizza right before Kara could get to it, to her vocal disapproval.

Winn shot his friend a betrayed look. "I didn't _have_ to make you a suit at all." He called over.

"Yes you did!"

Alex sighed heavily. "Just…read it over before we go patrol tomorrow." She said tightly. "I'm going to go down to the gym." With that, she left, without so much as looking at any of them. Winn felt a shot of guilt. He knew that her problem with Kara were weighing on her, and training a distractible DEO agent probably wasn't helping her stress levels.

With a sigh of his own, Winn walked over and plopped himself down at the table, claiming a slice of pizza for himself. Barry and Kara were flirting (though they both referred to it as 'bantering'), so Winn just let his eyes roam as he munched on the greasy 'food'.

The room wasn't terrible. In fact, it was very good, due to being a fairly pricy suite. There were two separate sleeping rooms, one for him, and one for Kara and Alex to share. Yeah, that wouldn't be awkward at all…

They even had a small kitchen, though Winn doubted many people would actually be cooking in it. Winn, as a single guy who lived alone, knew how to cook, but he was normally so distracted with some new project that he forgot. That was probably the only thing that kept him from being horribly fat considering his mostly sedentary lifestyle. Kara's attempts at cooking were some sort of strange alchemy that changed food into inorganic materials, so she was out too. Hm, maybe Alex knew how to cook?

Not that he was going to be the one to bring it up to her. He sensed that would be asking a bit too much of her right now.

Apparently, Barry could also cook, but he was only staying for a few hours each night. For a speedster, a few hours would drastically cut down on the territory they had to cover, but it would still help to have someone around willing _and_ able to cook.

Things continued in that same vein for almost an hour, with Barry and Kara filling the space with chatter and laughter and Winn mulling things over in the privacy of his mind. A darker corner of his mind couldn't help but notice that the two of them were so absorbed in each other that it was like he wasn't there.

It was then that Alex came back. Though she had been gone for an hour and doing exercises that probably would have killed lesser beings, she didn't look tired in the least. She also didn't look any more relaxed, and Winn belatedly realized he probably should have at least tried to look like he was doing something.

Alex walked over to the table and took a power stance that immediately drew Kara and Barry's attention. "Alright you three, we're going to be looking at the most likely places that a fighting ring would be." She announced without preamble. "I was able to find a few sections of the city that are our most likely bet to find them."

Her finger lashed out and jabbed itself in Winn's direction. "Agent Schott, you and I will be canvasing the areas between North 21st and Applewood Street. You are not to bring any of your equipment—this is learning the ropes of reconnaissance, not sowing or fighting time."

Her finger moved over to Barry. "Mister Allen, your area is much larger. You have all of the warehousing district, which will have less people now that it's getting dark out, but there will still likely be cameras. You will need to move fast enough to not be detected, as well as move through walls like you did the other day."

Barry nodded, his expression becoming serious. "I might not be able to keep up sustained phasing for that long." He warned.

"Then you're going to be testing your limits tonight." Alex replied bluntly. "And, as a reminder, this is purely reconnaissance. If you find a ring, report back to me."

Finally, Alex's finger moved to Kara, and her gaze didn't soften like it normally did when Alex looked at her sister. "Supergirl, you're going to be using your x-ray vision to scan for anything suspicious between Camille and McKenna."

Winn silently pleaded for Kara to just nod so they could all continue, but Kara's eyes narrowed slightly and she pulled over the map of Gotham City they had gotten earlier. Alex stayed silent as Kara checked the map.

"Alex, my area is even smaller than the one you and Winn are looking at!" Kara objected, clearly confused. "I could probably look over a third of the city by tonight with a good vantage point."

"Yes, Kara." Alex said calmly. "But you won't be getting a good vantage point. The tallest building in the city is Wayne Towers, and the entire building has too much security for you to be on it for any length of time."

Kara paused for a moment. "Alex, you're acting like I don't have the ability to fly." She said carefully.

"Because while we're here in Gotham, you won't be able to publicly act as Supergirl. That means no flying." Alex retorted.

Kara blinked in surprise. "Why can't I act as Supergirl? I know that my costume is a little eye-catching-" Barry and Winn exchanged a smirk at the understatement, "-but I could just wear dark colors and be practically invisible. Like a flying ninja!"

"Wait, ninjas normally can't fly in this universe?" Barry asked in confusion. The conversation paused as everyone gave the metahuman incredulous looks until the speedster's confused expression turned into a grin and he began to laugh. The others joined in, and some of the tension between the two sisters dissipated.

But only some of it.

"Kara, while you are considerably smaller than a helicopter or an airplane, there _are_ people who watch the skies for a living and will likely notice your presence. Considering that there's only one flying female in the entire world, people would soon be alerted to your presence in the city, and the dark colors would only make it clear you were trying to go unnoticed."

"Plus, the Dark Knight probably has his own way of detecting you," Winn noted. "The reports we looked at showed that he has way more advanced tech than he should. It wouldn't be crazy to think that he constantly has something scanning the sky in case Superman shows up."

Alex nodded, clearly approving of Winn having studied at least something about the situation. "The Dark Knight has shown a strong dislike to powerful forces in 'his city', and given just how unpredictable he has shown to be, he might do some real damage in an attempt to intimidate you. Not to mention, whoever runs the rings will probably know that their National City branch has been shut down, so if our presence here is revealed, they'll likely go underground."

Kara nodded slowly. "I guess I can be subtle." She flashed a smile. "Might be fun."

Barry opened his mouth to say something, his expression intent, but Alex was already grabbing her jacket and heading out the door. "We meet back here at 12:00. Winn, let's go." She ordered.

Winn jumped up like a puppet with its strings pulled and followed the other agent, waving briefly to the two superheroes before rushing out the door.

Time to get to work.

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Trying to be subtle was decidedly less fun than Kara had expected. Gotham was famous for its nightlife, so there were still many people out, even at this late hour. Kara was adept at moving around in crowds from having to constantly run around National City getting food for Ms. Grant, but normally in National City she wasn't constantly using x-ray vision to scan the buildings around her.

Which apparently made her look like a star-struck tourist who wasn't sure where she was going. Or at least, that's what she gleaned from the men who had come up to her and smoothly offer to 'show her the sights'. While it was kind of them, she had a specific area to stay in, so she made her excuses and continued looking around.

As the lives of hundreds of strangers became privy to her x-ray vision, Kara couldn't help a shudder come over her as she peeked into private moments. She had managed to look away before she could glimpse more…intimate moments several times, but there were other things too. She saw couples fighting with one another, screaming within the safety of their homes, as well as quiet, serene moments of parents tucking their children into bed.

It was for an important cause that she was doing this, Kara reminded herself. Even if she hadn't found anything yet.

There was something off about several areas though. Something like one in twenty buildings had some level of lead lining, preventing her from looking inside. It was similar to many of the warehouses in National City when they were retrieving Lar. Still, she had her other senses to rely on, and from what she could hear inside those lead-insulated buildings, nothings _too_ suspicious was going on. A woman cheating on her fiancée with her fiancée's sister, yes. Illegal activities, no.

Of course, this was Gotham, so seeing a crime in progress was inevitable.

Kara had gotten out of the Party Areas and was wandering around the downtown business part of Gotham. The most obvious building was, of course, Wayne Tower. It was an imposing building that loomed several stories higher than any of the surrounding buildings, and there were still people moving in and out of it even at this time of night. It was also, frustratingly, one of the buildings that had lead lining.

Kara had been focusing her hearing on Wayne Towers to get a better look, so to speak, when something caught her ear. She remembered hearing about the 'cocktail party effect' in college, the idea that one could hear when someone said their name from across a crowded cocktail party, somehow picking it out from all of the other noise.

That was the case now.

"…..would have to be _Supergirl_ to get here in time." One of the women scoffed. "There's no way that the 'Dark Knight' will manage to handle both our men and get here in time."

Maybe she would have to add super-coincidental-timing to her list of powers, Kara contemplated. She turned her eyes to a building several doors down from Wayne Towers, which _also had lead lining._ Ugh, so she would have to do this the hard way. She narrowed her focus on the room, letting her other senses fill in the gaps sights couldn't bridge.

"I don't see why we have to do this tonight." A man complained, a midwestern twang to his words. "Tonight is Dirty Darlings' half-priced shot night."

The woman spoke up again. "With the money that we're getting, you could just buy Dirty Darlings."

"Fuck that, with the money we're getting, I'm moving out of this city." The third person, another woman, spoke up. From the heartbeats that Kara could hear, she was the last person, and given her elevated heart rate, she was also the most stressed. "Go somewhere where we don't have a vigilante breathing down our necks every damn night."

The woman's two co-conspirators fell silent for a moment. "Do what you want afterwards, Lisa, let's just get going." The man finally said. All three's heart rate spiked to a higher level, but remained steady. They were obviously nervous, but also experienced.

Kara didn't know what their target was, but she knew she couldn't let them commit whatever crime they were going to do, especially since the Dark Knight was apparently not going to make an appearance.

What she did not expect was for their window to be flung open and a swarm of silver motes to speed down the street with uncanny speed. From the room, Kara heard the click of computer keys and something like a tightening of a valve.

Kara longed to jump into action, but remembered at the last moment that she had a team with her. She put a hand up to the communicator hidden in her ear. "Guys, we have a bit of a situation."

" _What kind of situation? Robbery? Meta-human attack?"_ Alex responded, quick as a whip.

"Not exactly sure what it is, to be honest." Kara reported, searching for a spot to change into Supergirl. With so many high-profile businesses in the area, there were multiple cameras affixed to the buildings that she had to avoid. "It looks like fog, but made of…" Kara focused her vision on the cloud, "…tiny robots. Like, nanobot tiny."

" _Can you tell what it's doing?"_

By this point, the fog had reached its target: Wayne Towers. The enormous, billowing fog began to float in through every available entrance point, and from the screams that were starting in the building, the fog was not idle.

"Apparently attacking Wayne Towers." Kara reported. She found a place where her changing would likely not be recorded and began walking quickly towards it. "I'm going in."

There was silence on the end for several other seconds, and Kara recalled Alex's words about wanting to avoid being noticed by both the ring-leaders and the Dark Knight. _"Can you do it without being noticed?"_ Alex finally responded.

There were cameras everywhere on the outside, and probably just as many on the inside. Kara was fast, but she had to slow down to use her more advanced powers, which she would likely have to resort to so as to disable the fog. "Probably not." She admitted.

" _I think she should do it."_ Winn put in, his voice steady. _"If Supergirl shows up to stop a group of criminals from destroying Wayne Towers, then Supergirl can pay Wayne a visit and ask about the rings. If the ring-leaders advertise the rich people, then he's undoubtedly been invited at some point. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't crack after Supergirl saves their business and then shows up knocking on their window."_

There was silence on the coms systems for a moment, a moment where people inside Wayne Towers were being attacked. _"…Do it."_ Alex ordered. _"Flash, get over there. I assume someone is controlling the fog?"_

"Uh, yeah. Building with the dark windows, four buildings down." Kara reported hastily. She had already changed and had plunged through the front doors into Wayne Towers. It was a brightly lit, professional place, somewhat colder than CatCo, but far from unimpressive.

Of course, the tendrils of tiny robots plugged into the walls and attacking the employees somewhat detracted from the appeal.

This was an enemy that Supergirl couldn't pummel into the ground. Though the fog managed to look like an amorphous solid in some places, she knew it was just millions of little robots.

So Kara took a deep breath, hoped for the best, and used her freeze breath. She tried to keep the area of effect as tight as possible, because there were still people running around, but she managed to freeze several large sections of the Fog solid. The ice chunks fell to the ground and shattered, taking the robots with them.

"Evacuate the building!" Supergirl called. The employees in the lobby looked at her with shocked eyes but jumped into action. Supergirl darted throughout the ground floor, ordering people to evacuate and freezing sections of the fog where she could, but apparently the controllers were learning, as the billows of robots began to rapidly retreat when she rounded corners.

Oddly enough, despite all the screaming, the fog wasn't attacking anyone. Horrifyingly, the fog seemingly was able to dissolve wood and concrete, but no one she saw sustained any injuries. So, what was the fog after? Was this just a scare tactic?

" _Supergirl, I've got the guys controlling the fog."_ Flash reported over the coms. _"Is it disabled?"_

"No, it's not." Supergirl panted. Even she had to breathe, and freeze breath was taking a lot out of her. In fact, the fog was almost frantically digging into the walls and floors, dissolving everything they could touch. She got closer to the fog, hoping she could maximize her freeze breath's took a deep breathed...and inhaled a mouthful of the nanobots.

Immediately, panic blossomed in her chest. She could _feel_ little wiggling robots trying to tear her apart from the inside, but fail to find purchase. Her insides were just as invulnerable as her outsides, and as they began to slow, she assumed that they were being dissolved by her stomach acid. She pushed it out of her head and continued to freeze the fog, but there seemed to always be more, on every single floor.

All of a sudden, the fog seemed to freeze. Not from Supergirl's freeze breath either. The fog stopped shifting and tunneling, and instead fell to the ground, completely inert.

Kara stared at the suddenly ended problem, confused.

"What just happened?" She asked aloud. There was no one around to answer, but after a moment, her coms crackled as someone spoke.

Kara did not recognize who the speaker was.

" _I neutralized the Fog."_ A rumbling voice reported. _"I would appreciate it if you did not destroy any more of them. Leave that to the police."_

"Wait, who are you?" Supergirl demanded. "How did you neutralize the fog?" She scanned all of the other floors and found the same result on all of them: the fog lying in piles on the ground innocently.

" _Supergirl, he's using Flash's coms."_ Winn called over. Kara froze, and then rushed out of the now dilapidated Wayne Towers building and rushed to the spot where the fog had been released. There were four people on the ground, two men and two women. Three were tied up, and Supergirl presumed that they were the criminals. The fourth was Flash, who was the only one unconscious, with his coms missing.

" _Tell your friend that he should learn to watch his six better."_ The mystery man muttered. _"As for who I am…."_

Supergirl got a sinking feeling in her chest and cursed her super-coincidental-timing. The vanishing act, the ability to neutralize threats like the Flash and the fog quickly and easily…

" _I am the Knight."_

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Barry leaned back in his bed, processing the information. "Well, at least he didn't shoot me with arrows." He aloud, more to himself than anything else.

It was of little comfort to the speedster.

Whoever had punched him certainly hadn't held back. Barry remembered learning that knocking people unconscious was often a lot more dangerous than one would think, because if someone was out for more than five minutes it often meant they had brain damage. Barry had suffered a lot in his tenure as the Flash, but fortunately head trauma had not been much of it. Even though Myriad had proved that his rapid healing extended to his brain, he still didn't like risking it. After all, he knew enough about comic books to know that if you took out something's brain, it was hard for them to recover, even if they did have regenerative capabilities.

And he had found that it was true at the hands of a stealthy human, not even a metahuman. The Dark Knight was apparently even more dangerous than they had given him credit for.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kara asked. "What about arrows?" She was perched at the edge of his bed-well, Winn's bed, he had just been allowed to recover there- and the others were standing around them.

Barry tried to grin but couldn't hold back a wince at the painful memory. "I have a friend who tells me pretty often that I need to be more aware of my surroundings. To drive the point home, so to speak, he shot me in the back with arrows."

"That's smart."

"That's awful."

Alex and Kara exchanged glances after their contrary outbursts, silently agreed to disagree, and then pushed forward.

"So, what do you remember?" Alex pressed. "Did you get a good look at him?"

Barry shook his head slowly, thinking back. "No, not really. I used zip ties to incapacitate the people controlling the fog and was inspecting the machine, then I just felt him punch me-"

"Wait a second, what machine?" Alex interrupted.

"The machine that controlled the fog, I guess." Barry coughed into his hand. "It's really high tech, I barely had any idea what anything on it meant." Not that he was the techno whiz that Cisco was, but normally he could get some idea of how to control a machine. Still, his team had confused looks.

"Big cylindrical thing? Buttons and lights all over it?" Barry continued, but none of them seemed to recognize what he was talking about.

"Barry, when I came to get you there was no machine like what you're describing." Kara finally said.

At the news, Barry slumped onto the bed. "So…is this good news or bad news?" He asked. "I mean, those criminals don't have it anymore, but we don't know why the Knight took it."

"Probably good news." Winn offered. "He tends to steal the tech of his enemies after they're taken down. He doesn't ever seem to use them after that, so that means the Fog is, for all intents and purposes, gone."

"Unless whoever gave those thugs the Fog in the first place can replicate it." Alex said grimly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I got in a little time to interrogate the leader before the GPD showed up to destroy what remained of it. They were given the Fog and were promised a huge amount of money if they used it to take down Wayne."

Barry shuddered slightly. He didn't really want to know what Alex Danvers had done to get that information in the scant amount of time she had to have had.

"But why would they want to take down Wayne Towers?" Kara asked, perplexed. "Yeah, they have their fingers in a little bit of everything, but what good is destroying a building?"

"Well, I didn't say that they were tasked with taking down Wayne _Towers_ , now did I?" Alex asked. She gestured to Winn. "You want to tell them what the Fog really does?"

Winn nodded enthusiastically and pulled out a baggie that had a small cluster of the Fog-bots in it. "These things aren't just high-tech termites." He pulled one out and held it out for Kara and Barry to look at. Barry could barely make out any details about it, but he could still tell that it was almost as advanced as the things STAR Labs put out. "Their real purpose is hacking."

"Hacking?" Kara asked dubiously. "But these things were ripping into walls and floors."

Winn shrugged. "Probably to make people leave as soon as possible. These little suckers could probably download all of the information the DEO has back at HQ in ten minutes. _All_ of the information. If it could just touch something with a hard drive, it could download the information."

Barry nodded slowly, his mind bringing up the image of Rita Robbins accusing Wayne Enterprises of illegally selling advanced weapons to unknown people. He could think of a lot of people who would pay quite a bit to get their hands on a weapon like the Heat Gun or any of the other inventions he had found under Wayne Tech.

"That raises the question: what exactly were they after?" Alex asked. "What exactly does Wayne have that they were so desperate to get to?"

Kara grinned. "Well, I believe that Winn said something about paying Wayne a little visit. Why don't we add that to the list of questions he'll need to answer?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't get why we're being so careful. The guy could probably buy five mansions if we wrecked this one."

" _Yes, but its best to not start off a conversation by destroying a rich person's fancy security system."_

"I was under the impression that a show of force was standard for these kinds of things."

" _Yeah, but you're_ Supergirl. _Shows of force are largely unnecessary when everyone already knows you can benchpress buildings. Hence the hacking."_

Supergirl nodded, then realized that no one else could see her, and reluctantly verbally conceded to Alex's argument, which left her with nothing to do but observe the mansion below her, where she could see Wayne working on his computer through one of the windows into his study.

Wayne Manor was very impressive, both in scope and style. It was a several stories high, sprawling structure that had more defensive measures than any other civilian home she had seen. Everything that she could see likely wasn't even half of what was actually present on the grounds, given that she couldn't use her x-ray vision.

"Seriously, what is up with all of the lead-lined buildings around here?" She grumbled, not even the cool breeze sweeping the clouds helping to take the edge off her annoyance and anticipation.

" _Now really isn't the time for idle questions, Supergirl."_ Alex chided. _"Wayne may be the only one in the mansion for now, but we can't tell if he'll stay for long. Winn, how is it coming?"_

Supergirl heard the sound of papers being shuffled rapidly, far too fast for a normal human to be doing it, and she felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth as Barry came onto the comms. _"Well there isn't any official documentation, but it looks like a few years after your cousin revealed to Lois Lane his powers that some scientist came up with a way to prevent lead poisoning when it's included in building materials."_

Ah, it sure was handy to have a friend around that was capable of basically insta-learning anything you cared to know about…even if it was only temporary.

Alex let out a long sigh, and Supergirl could almost hear her sister glaring at Barry. _"Yes, lead lining has become inexplicably more popular throughout the world since Superman's interview."_ Alex conceded. _"Of course, there aren't many benefits to this…unless you're paranoid about an alien demi-god spying on you."_

" _Probably thirty seconds until I get through the systems."_ Winn noted distractedly. Supergirl readied herself even as her curiosity gnawed at her.

"But I haven't noticed many of those buildings in National City." Supergirl pointed out.

" _Because that would be a bit of a red flag that something illegal was going on, at least until it became more commonplace."_ Alex explained. _"And we're not keen on letting that happen in National City. It's better to give you a line of sight into most buildings than knock off the few that sprang for lead-lined walls."_

" _Aaaand we're in! For the next seven minutes and twenty-three seconds the defense systems will be offline."_ Winn announced.

Supergirl immediately let gravity reassert itself, pulling her down and adding her own flight speed to it. True to Winn's word, none of the defensive systems sprang to life, and she came to a halt right outside Wayne's window, casting a dramatic shadow over him.

To her annoyance, it took several seconds for Wayne to notice the change. Supergirl pushed open the window as the man scrambled away from her, his hand going to a pocket within his jacket.

"I would really wouldn't recommend shooting me." Supergirl advised mildly, stepping down onto the floor and looking around casually as if she had been invited over. Part of it was just putting on the appropriate air of untouchable confidence, while the other part was just that this was the most richly furnished room she had ever been in.

Wayne snorted, and his hand fell to his side. His posture was much calmer than she would have expected, given the situation.

"I have a feeling it would be a waste of bullets to shoot the Girl of Steel. Plus, it might damage my study." Wayne said. He moved over to a liquor cabinet and poured a generous dollop of whiskey into a glass. "Might I offer you something, Supergirl?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. Wayne." Supergirl said coolly. There really wasn't a point to not accepting, except that it showed that she was the one in control of this situation.

"If you're going to be extorting me, we can put formalities. Please, call me Thomas." Wayne sipped the drink and somehow managed to looked positively relaxed.

" _Yeah, this guy isn't creepy at all."_ Winn commented quietly. Supergirl wished she could agree with him aloud, but instead she forced herself to raise an eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, Thomas, you can call me Supergirl then."

Note to self: take some Improv classes to work on comebacks.

Thomas Wayne also raised an eyebrow and, to Supergirl's irritation, the way he did it made it seem far more elegant. It was probably a rich person thing.

"Well then, Supergirl, I do have dinner with my family shortly, so I would prefer if you stated your demands quickly and concisely." Thomas asked, taking another sip of his drink. "And just know that most of my money is tied up in stocks and bonds."

"You seem to misunderstand the nature of this visit." Supergirl interjected. "I'm not here for money."

That seemed to be the first thing to ruffle the billionaire, in that he looked mildly surprised. "Oh. I apologize then. You have to understand that men of my stature are often targeted by superpowered beings down on their luck."

Huh. Well, that was something she would have to look into at some point in the future. Right now though…

"Well, that's not what I'm here for. I need your help to find a group of alien traffickers." Supergirl said bluntly, watching the man closely for some sign of knowing what she was referring to.

None appeared. No open emotion crossed Thomas's face, but he sipped his drink with a frown creasing his face. "How could this happen…?" Supergirl heard him mutter to himself, far too quiet for a normal human to hear.

"So you've never heard anything about this?" Supergirl pressed.

Thomas shook his head, appearing to be genuinely troubled. "No, I haven't. I don't mean to offend, but why would I even know? I don't exactly have my ear to the ground for criminal activity."

Supergirl hesitated. The billionaire didn't seem to know anything about the fighting rings, but why would they not invite the famous Thomas Wayne to what was essentially a fancy country club?

" _We need to throw him off somehow. He's too composed."_ Alex mused in her ear.

" _I've got it."_ Barry cut in. _"Kara, ask him about the lab underneath Wayne Tech."_

"Well, Thomas, I happen to know that you're not exactly clean." Supergirl said. "After all, there is that lab underneath Wayne Tech to think about."

Supergirl wasn't sure what Barry knew about Wayne's lab, but it was clearly important. Thomas nearly lost his grip on his drink, and for just a moment his face went slack before he reclaimed his unaffected air.

The man emptied his glass and refilled it under Supergirl's silent supervision. "I suppose it would be useless to deny knowledge of the labs." Thomas admitted. "But there is nothing illegal about them."

Supergirl raised an eyebrow. She had only mentioned _one_ lab and yet he had voluntarily told her that there were several. This must really be rattling him.

" _Then why was it underground and the technology developed was bounced around so much that they couldn't be tracked?"_

Supergirl recited Barry's question, having a feeling that this was the reason Barry had wanted to come to Gotham. She wasn't sure where he had gotten the information, but it was the only thing that seemed to throw Thomas off.

Thomas let out a long sigh and took a longer sip of his drink than he had before. "That is a long, complicated story."

Supergirl didn't move. "I have all the time in the world." She lied calmly.

" _You have about four minutes and fifty-two seconds before the defense systems reactivate."_ Winn helpfully reminded her.

Thomas snorted. "And I can't exactly do anything to move you, now can I?" He muttered rhetorically. "I suppose it all started when my son was born."

Supergirl's eyes caught on one of the many pictures that were littered around Thomas's study. Most of them were centered around a young boy with a wide, toothy smile in almost every photo. While the Waynes weren't major celebrities, they were on the news enough that Supergirl knew the boy's name.

"From what I've heard, Bruce seems like a happy child." She said. Now that she wasn't looking merely at the over-top opulence, she could see what looked like several hand-crafted items, crude but well-maintained.

"And I've worked hard to keep him that way." Thomas said grimly. "After he was born, pictures started showing up around the house, in his crib, taken from a few feet away. I fired the entire staff that would've had access to him, but the pictures continued to come in, with pictures of myself and my wife sleeping in our bed as well. After that, the demands came in."

Supergirl felt a chill work its way up her spine and tried not to show any emotion on her face. She was technically interrogating him, after all. But still…

"What were the demands?" She asked.

"That I begin to manufacture weapons for them. Weapons that would give them an edge against police and federal agencies." Thomas said bluntly.

" _Well, we now have a recording of him admitting to supplying weapons to a terrorist organization. Even if producing the weapons weren't illegal, that certainly is."_ Alex said grimly.

" _Which isn't of use to us if he really doesn't know anything about the fighting rings."_ Winn pointed out.

Supergirl tried to block out the voices in her ear and focus on Thomas, who would've seemed composed if not for the white-knuckled grip on her glass. "Do you know what this group called themselves?" She asked.

Thomas nodded. "Yes. They called themselves the League of Shadows."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Night 17_

"… _.Supergirl appears to be more active than ever, now not just showing up at crises in National City, but all around the United States. The reason for her change in behavior is unknown, but those who benefit from her increased scope are certainly thankful. Back to you, Bob."_

Winn accepted his change and blearily walked over to grab the coffee and pastries off the counter, part of his attention still on the television set into the wall. A sip of his own coffee did nothing to dispel the haze of exhaustion that clouded his thoughts, but he took another one anyway as he made his way out of the coffee shop.

Gotham was just as busy as National City during all phases of the day, and Winn dearly wished he had the reflexes of either of his two superpowered friends as he tried to maneuver through the crowds of people that didn't care one way or another if he got elbowed to the ground. Still, he was able to make good time and quickly got back to the hotel.

"Got your coffee, Alex." He set the cup down in front of the brunette woman and she immediately set to getting as much of it in her as possible without so much as a thank you. Winn felt a testy response rise up in his throat, but he choked it down and went back to his computer.

Winn collapsed into his chair and slid the bag of pastries over to Kara, who immediately set into the doughy treats.

"Apparently Supergirl is being called upon to replace a broken statue that she broke in San Francisco." Winn muttered to her, making sure Alex couldn't overhear his voice. "It's all over the news."

Kara swallowed her oversized bite of bear claw and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, did I? Was that before or after that fire in Oakland?"

"Afterwards, I think. I don't know actually, no one is really taking it seriously, it's more like a joke." Winn admitted. "No one is sure how to deal with your increased radius. Everyone figured National City was the only place you'd defend, since that's the epicenter of a lot of alien activity."

Kara nodded and bit into another pastry. "Guess I'll have to get used to J'onn's shedule once this mission is done." She grumbled. "Just wish he had run it by me first, or let me help out…"

Winn stayed quiet and sipped his coffee. Alex had quickly informed J'onn of Supergirl being seen in Gotham, and the man had jumped, or rather flown, into action, disguising himself as Supergirl and going on a spree of crime solving across several states. With the sudden flurry of activity, Supergirl's appearance in Gotham wasn't seen as anything out of the ordinary, and hopefully the alien traffickers wouldn't catch onto the fact that they were being hunted.

Unfortunately, either that hadn't worked, or the traffickers were much cleverer than they had thought.

…Or there was no fighting ring in Gotham and they were all wasting their time.

Winn shook his head to dispel that particular thought. There was no reason to suspect that until they had cased every inch of Gotham, and so far they hadn't even covered half, even with Kara's super senses or Barry's speed.

Speaking of which…

Almost as if the speedster also had telepathy, the lock on the door clicked and Barry walked into the hotel room, a bag with his costume in it slung over his shoulder. It spoke to how tired they all were that Barry and Kara barely flirted (bantered!) when he walked in and took his place.

Winn barely greeted his friend, more concerned with mustering up his courage as he kept an eye on Alex, who was still typing a report out on her computer. It would only take a few more seconds…

Alex turned off her computer and walked over to the trio, who all sat up a bit straighter. "Alright, so we all have our areas to search tonight. Agent Schott, you're good enough to do your own area tonight, you have…" Alex trailed off as Winn's hand raised itself in the air, trembling slightly.

"Yes, Agent Schott?" Alex asked, a hint of curiosity in her otherwise dead tone. Winn took that as a good sign and pulled out a thick binder, one of several that he had been reading over the past few days.

"Agent Danvers, as my commanding officer and leader of this unit, I would like to request a one night reprieve of our duties to regain our mental energy, a practice recommended for all DEO Agent on a long-term assignment, as written in the _Agent Health and Safety Practices_ Handbook, Section D, Paragraph thirteen."

The room was quiet after Winn delivered his formal request. A bead of sweat rolled its way down Winn's face, yet he didn't move as he stared down Alex Danvers. Not showing weakness was the key.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex surveyed her team, all of whom were reacting in their own ways to Winn's request. Winn himself was as pale and clammy as a man waiting to be shot, Barry was averting his eyes as if he were an unwilling spectator at a brutal boxing match, and Kara…

Kara's face had undergone a series of changes that any but Alex wouldn't have been able to pick out. First surprise, then worry, and finally, stubbornness. That stubbornness only came out when Kara was defending someone. That stubbornness that Kara so often turned against her enemies was now turned against Alex, as if _she_ were doing something wrong.

Alex wanted to snap at all three of them, Winn for asking something so stupid when they had a mission to work on, Barry for acting like Alex was going to do something violent, and at Kara for standing in Winn's defense rather than her own sister. Then again, that hadn't stopped her from wanting to _leave_ National City behind just days ago…

Alex took a deep breath and looked at her team again. Dark circles under their eyes, nail chewed down to the stubs, subtle marks of stress and tension that she had been seeing in the mirror for days also marred her team. They wouldn't be nearly as effective at tracking down the traffickers or keeping eyes open for this 'League of Shadows' if they were like this.

"Fine. Your request is granted, Agent Schott." Alex acquiesced, crossing her arms over her chest. "As long as it won't affect your performance tomorrow, we can relax tonight."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You have an odd idea of what it means to relax, Winn." Kara muttered to her friend.

"Kara, we are in the party capital of America, and you didn't want us to come to a bar on or free night? For shame." Winn flashed a smile, sliding back into the booth with a tray of drinks that he had gotten from the bar.

"It is an odd choice, considering that Kara and I literally can't get drunk, and Alex avoids alcohol altogether while on missions." Barry tacked on, eying the bar. It was one of the tamest bars in the Gotham, devoid of the flashing lights or pounding music, yet it was still very active. The reason why was simple.

Karaoke.

Apparently, even in the party capital of America, watching drunk people sing badly was still popular.

Winn held up a single finger, his other hand fishing for something in his pocket with a devious smile on his face that sent a sudden shiver down Barry's spine.

The item that Winn pulled out was…a flask. Barry, Kara and Alex all watched curiously as he added a dollop of dark liquid to two of the glasses and stirred them in.

"So, apparently our good friend Lar overheard that Barry and Kara had never been drunk before while he was training, so he sent over this in case they wanted to 'unwind'." Winn explained. He sat the drinks in front of Barry and Kara, a smirk on his face. "Apparently, this will actually get you drunk."

Winn's smirk died when Barry downed his entire glass in the space of one second. The warmth ran down his throat and bloomed in his stomach, and even as Winn pushed another glass towards him, wide-eyed, the warmth stayed.

Barry couldn't stop a dopey grin from growing on his face even as he downed another drink. "Agggh, I have missed this."

Kara was a bit more hesitant, keeping the drink clasped in her hands and not moving to drink it. "Ah, I think I think I'll pass. Winn made me watch both parts of The Hangover, and that's not advisable for someone with super strength."

Winn opened his mouth to say something, but Barry cut in. "Kara," he said, somewhat aware that his voice was too loud. "I say this as someone who has been forced to be sober for years: being drunk is fucking awesome!"

At his loud proclamation, Barry raised his glass and several tables near him cheered. Still the Kryptonian didn't pick up her drink. Barry's smile drooped, though he tried to continue smiling. He wanted to help Kara relax a little bit, but if she didn't want to drink, then it wasn't his place to make her drink.

But he was definitely going to drink. In fact…

"Winn! How much of that stuff do you have?" Barry asked.

"I'm Alex, Winn is over there."

"Oh."

Barry refocused on Winn, a part of him noting that either his tolerance was shot to hell or that stuff was a little _too_ strong. "Winn! How much of-"

"Yeah, champ, I heard you. Don't worry, I've got plenty." Winn seemed almost as giddy as Barry was, but he hadn't had anything to drink yet.

"Good, caaause I'm going to get more!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex watched Barry stumble his way up to the bar, occasionally apologizing to furniture as he hit it. She turned back to Winn and arched an eyebrow, trying to keep her expression unamused.

Unfortunately, giving into his request had apparently given Winn a dose of courage. "Come on, you can't tell me that that's not funny." Winn gestured to Barry, who was trying to order more drinks from one of the other bar patrons, who was doing his best to explain that he wasn't a bartender.

Alex didn't allow her mouth to so much as twitch but didn't reject his words. "I'm just a little worried about a man with Barry's abilities being as drunk as he is after only two drinks. Especially since he's gotten…several more." True to her words, the bartender was pouring several drinks all at once for Barry.

Winn sighed. "I get what you mean. I just…want to help you all have a good time. Getting too hung up on something can be bad for a person." His eyes darkened for a moment, and Alex knew that Winn's thoughts were on his father.

Alex took a sip of her own drink, a simple soda. Though it had been years since she'd had a drink, she wasn't going to start now. "Fine, just make sure he doesn't overdo it." Alex conceded.

Winn nodded. "Don't worry, I'll cut him off after his next drink."

"Uh, guys?" Kara spoke up, her eyes across the bar. Alex turned her head back to the speedster and saw that he had Winn's flask in his hand and was putting generous amounts in his armful of drinks. Alex turned an accusing glare on Winn, who laughed nervously.

"Hey, I think I'm going to go see if the karaoke machine is free. Cool? Cool." Winn grabbed his drink and darted out of the booth, leaving Kara and Alex alone.

Kara didn't speak, and neither did Alex. They just watched the bars patrons go about their revelry, watching the others have a good time. A few times Alex saw Kara about to say something out of the corner of her eye, then stop and go back to being quiet.

" _Getting too hung up on something can be bad for a person…"_

"I wish you had told me about wanting to move to Metropolis." Even as she spoke, Alex didn't turn toward her sister, didn't move a muscle.

Kara didn't have any such reservations. She turned to face Alex, confusion clear on her face. "I did tell you about wanting to move to Metropolis. Remember, you had that whole rant about how you had given up so much for me." Bitterness tinged her sister's voice, despite clearly trying to keep it out.

Hot anger rose in Alex's throat once again, but she took a deep breath, as well as a sip of her drink, to calm herself down. "You told me about your decision, Kara. I don't regret anything I said then, because I have given up a lot for you, but I do regret not saying this: I would have given up even more."

"What?" Kara's eyes widened behind her glasses, and Alex finally turned to face her.

"Kara, you don't really think that I would just let you move away by yourself, did you? I would've gladly gone with you to Metropolis." Alex forced herself to meet Kara's gaze evenly.

"Alex that's crazy, your life is in National City, the DEO, J'onn, all of it!" Kara protested.

Alex quirked an eyebrow at her sister, who flushed slightly but didn't back down. "Kara, my job is to protect you, wherever that may be." Alex reminded her. "I went to space to do it, you think I wouldn't move across the country?"

"But it didn't have to be your job." Kara said. "I don't want you to sacrifice your life just so I can live mine." There was that earnestness in her tone that made her so difficult to argue with.

But Alex shook her head. "Kara, I need you to understand. I love my job. I love _you._ When you decided that you were moving to Metropolis, you said it was because you wanted to be closer to Clark. It was like…"

The words stuck in her throat and Alex tried to force them out when a cool hand laid itself across hers.

"Alex, I am never going to replace you." Kara said firmly. "And I'm not leaving National City."

"A decision you also made without me." Alex muttered, not doing anything to move her hand away.

Kara frowned, but also didn't move her hand. "Alex, our lives are never going to be separate, and I understand now why it was so important that I include you in that decision. But it was still my decision, for better or worse."

"Ah." Alex couldn't say much more. She tried to turn away once again and pull her hand away, only for Kara's fingers to trap it to the table, forcing their eyes back together.

"It was my decision." Kara repeated, looking seriously at her sister. "But I understand, and I'm going to do my best to include you. You're a part of my life that I can't live without. I don't want to lose you."

Alex nodded slowly, and she realized after a moment that she was actually smiling. It was a small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I don't want to lose you either."

The moment lasted roughly as long as it took for Winn to start belting out the lyrics to _Death of a Bachelor_ up onstage. The two sisters looked at one another and dissolved into a fit of giggles. Well, Kara giggled, Alex snorted and hid another smile behind a gulp of her drink.

As she brought her glass down, something caught Alex's eye that almost made her smirk. Bygones may be bygones, but a little payback may not be unnecessary.

"Well would you look at that," Alex drawled "Barry's got himself a fan club."

It was true. While some people were paying attention to Winn's singing, many more people were watching Barry Allen, Fastest Man Alive. Someone had put a line of shots down on the bar, easily over a dozen, and Barry was on his seventh.

Under the Danvers sisters' eyes, Barry completed the challenge, completely unfazed as none of the shots had been spiked with Lar's little gift. The reason Alex had pointed the little event to Kara were several attractive women cheering him on that were practically on top of him. Barry didn't seem to be the kind of man who had trouble reading signals, yet the only way they could've been expressing more interest was if they were to actively pull him into the restroom.

Of course, Barry was too drunk to notice.

But Kara wasn't.

"Well, I'm glad he's having fun." Kara said calmly.

"Kara?"

"Mhm?"

"The table."

The Kryptonian glanced down at the old wood table, which was now sporting several deep indents that just so happened to coincide with where Kara was gripping the table. Alex could see why Lar and Winn invested so much time in teasing the two superheroes. It certainly was entertaining.

"I'm the Flash!" Barry slurred loudly, hoisting a bottle in the air. The group gathered around him roared with approval as he started chugging the…dear god was that _vodka?_

"Maybe I should go make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Kara proposed, her tone even and reasonable.

"Kara, he just openly revealed his secret identity, and everyone cheered. I think he's doing alright without you." Alex countered. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Kara's eyes narrowed at her sister.

"Oh, nothing. You just seemed a little jealous is all." Alex said innocently.

"Wha? I-no-that's…I mean…not jealous. _You're_ jealous." Kara spluttered.

"Wow. That was really impressive. Your secrets are under real lock and key there." Alex said flatly.

Kara huffed, but didn't say anything for several long seconds. "I'm not going to do anything, Alex." She muttered. "I can't."

Alex felt a minor sense of whiplash and the desire to tease her sister briefly faded. "I mean, I know that you and James just broke up, but expressing interest isn't a crime." She tried to reassure her sister.

"No, I mean, there's no point. He's in love with Iris West." Kara explained. "He's going to train to get back home and once he does, he's got the woman of his dreams at his side. The girl he's been in love with since he was a kid."

Alex groaned. "Not this again. Kara, you need to stop falling for guys who are in relationships."

Kara flushed quickly, and Alex couldn't even enjoy it properly. "I haven't _fallen_ for him, Alex." She hissed, a crinkle on the bridge of her nose appearing. "That sounds so…cheesy."

"Kara," Alex said slowly, "there is no judgement at this table. And I can tell you honestly, the relationship between you two is ridiculously cheesy. He's clearly interested in you."

"Maybe." Kara swirled the drink in her glass, and suddenly she snorted. "I guess Clark was right. Relationship problems are an oddly big issue, even with superpowers in the mix."

Alex shrugged. "Nothing can ever be easy I guess. Right, Kara? Kara?" It took Alex a moment to realize that her sister had completely zoned out, and she was staring across the bar. Alex shifted her attention and saw that one of Barry's fans had apparently decided to up the ante and was literally hanging off his arm, and drawing him close to her, drawing attention to her rather large….

Alex's face suddenly felt warm and she looked away, seeing that Kara's face had gone completely blank. Almost robotically, Kara downed her entire drink and rose to her feet, starting to make her way over to the bar.

Alex almost tried to stop her sister for a moment, then decided not to. After all, it was Kara's decision…

Plus, it would likely be entertaining.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"~Annie are you okay?~"

"~So Annie are you okay?~"

"~You've been hit by-"

"~You've been struck by-~"

" _~A smooth criminal!~"_

Winn shook his head in disbelief. "Of course they can both sing, even when they're drunk." He took a small sip of his own drink, apparently trying to remain lucid.

Alex nodded in agreement even as Kara and Barry continued their song battle up onstage, tripping over one another. Of course, they probably wouldn't have tripped of each other as much if they actually put some distance between each other, but Alex wasn't going to be the one to say that.

Upon Barry and Kara's moving to the stage, the bar had mostly been vacated in favor of the stage's seating area, and Winn and Alex now sat on the stools, both to get a better view and quicker access to drinks.

"Another soda for you?" Alex's attention was drawn to the bartender, and she did a double take. The bartender for most of the night had been a large black man who wouldn't have looked out of place as a quarterback, but the bartender now was a tall blonde woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, emphasizing the angular nature of her face.

"Uh, yes, just soda please. Trying to keep my head on." Alex's tongue all of a sudden felt thick and heavy, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks as the bartender smoothly ignored her fumbling and poured her another before topping off Winn's drink.

Alex tried to pay attention to the performance, but she was for some reason keenly aware of the bartender as she went about wiping down the bar.

"Those two friends of yours?" It took Alex a moment to realize that the woman was talking to her, and she rushed to answer.

"Yes. Well, Barry is, Kara is mine. My sister, I mean. We're just visiting from out of town. All of us, that is." Internally, Alex cursed her odd answering. What was wrong with her?

"Well, your sister and her friend are pretty talented." The bartender noted.

"He's not her boyfriend." Alex blurted out. The bartender cocked an eyebrow and Alex flushed once again. "Sorry, I just…people tend to assume they're dating."

"Yeah, I can see that. It's just best not to assume. Even when they're…you know." The bartender gestured to the duo being discussed who were practically nose to nose as they finished up their song.

"Yeah, I guess that's a pretty good policy. You know what they say about assuming."

The bartender looked at her blankly. "No, I don't. What do they say about assuming?"

"Well, you know…assuming makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me'."

To her surprise, the bartender actually snorted, and a small smile crept on to her face. "Wow, that's…really bad."

"Uh, yeah."

Alex didn't know what to say. She wasn't the kind of person who normally made jokes, but she also wanted to keep talking. To her relief, the bartender was the one who continued the conversation. The blonde woman offered her hand across the table.

"I'm Artemis Crock, part-time bartender, nice to meet you."

Alex shook Artemis's hand, noting absently that she had smooth calluses on her hands and a powerful grip.

"Alex Danvers, bioengineer. Nice to meet you too."

They broke the handshake, and Alex wiped her hands on her pants leg under the table to try and get rid of the odd tingling in it.

"You have a very strong handshake for a bioengineer." Artemis complimented….and it _was_ a compliment. Alex had heard similar sentiments as subtle insults before, yet the blonde woman seemed genuine.

Alex shrugged, her face feeling oddly warm. "I do some martial arts when I'm not at the lab. No one knows to take better care of themselves than people who took biology."

"Clearly." Artemis's eyes dipped below Alex's for a moment, and Alex heard something almost akin to a purr in the other woman's voice.

A shiver went up Alex's spine that she tried to ignore. "You seem to have a strong handshake for a bartender. What do you do?" Alex asked.

A light blush crossed Artemis's face for a moment and she crossed her arms over her chest as she muttered something inaudibly.

"What was that?" Alex leaned in to ask.

"….Archery. I do archery." Artemis muttered. This time it was Alex who snorted, unable to contain herself.

"Yeah, yeah, get it all out now." Artemis spread her arms as if Alex were going to pelt her with tomatoes. "Go at it."

"No, no, it's fine." Alex reassured the archer. "It's just…you're named after the goddess of archery and you do archery? Seems kind of arrogant."

Artemis huffed, but there was a slight smirk on her face. "Well that's a new one. Most people just mock the fact that I do archery at all, not accuse me of arrogance."

A slight smirk grew on Alex's face to match Artemis's expression. "I think you'll find I'm not most people."

"Wow, nice line. Did you read that one in a pick-up line guide?" Artemis snarked, grinning at her.

Wait a moment…Pick-up line?

"Uh, no, I'm not, you know, flirting with you." Alex got out. "I'm not gay."

"Oh." For the first time, Artemis looked surprised, and a light flush crept across her face. "Oh."

Alex didn't know what to say. The conversation that had been flowing so well was now stalling, and for the first time she could remember she found herself desperately wanting to fill it. "So, were you born in Gotham?"

"Ah, no. Not really sure where I was born. Family moved around a lot until mom and I moved here a couple years ago. I've been taking odd jobs ever since." Artemis shrugged casually. "How about you, what's your story?"

"Lived in National City since college. Pretty much stay in the lab, this is my first night at a bar in years." Alex confessed.

A frown crossed Artemis's face for a brief moment. "National City, huh?" She muttered to herself. "You ever seen Supergirl?"

Alex snorted. "A little hard not to, she's pretty much everywhere." It certainly helped that she saw her at work every day.

"Not what I meant. Sorry, should've been more specific. It seems like every other Nationalite that comes through here has some sort of story where they've met her, even if it was only for a few seconds." Artemis explained.

Alex shook her head, fighting off a smirk. "Not so lucky. Guess she's pretty busy."

Artemis nodded in agreement and poured herself a drink. Alex realized that they had been talking for several minutes in which the other woman had been completely neglecting her job. "That she is." Artemis said. "Especially with her new stats. Over forty two people saved per day, quite an increase from the twenty one average previously."

"Bit of a Supergirl nut?" Alex asked, taking a sip of her own nonalcoholic drink.

"A bit." Artemis admitted. "Though its more in comparison to our own city's vigilante."

"Vigilante." Alex tried out the word, frowning slightly. "Not sure I've heard anyone refer to Supergirl that way."

Artemis shrugged, a bit of an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, I guess that word has a bit of a negative connotation, but it's still accurate. Our government hasn't given her any power to do the things that she does, they just haven't made a move against her."

A sour feeling began to worm its way into Alex's gut. Technically, it was true. Supergirl wasn't technically a DEO agent, and for all legal purposes, she _was_ a vigilante. The only reason they could even charge someone if they attacked her was because they tended to cause a lot of collateral damage, as going after a vigilante wasn't illegal.

Artemis could apparently sense the dark turn of Alex's thoughts, because she began to rapidly reassure her. "Not that I think anyone should go after her or something! In fact, I think the Dark Knight could stand to be a little bit more like Supergirl."

That brought Alex out of her funk. A lot of people in Gotham either worshipped the Dark Knight or thought he was a public menace, not a lot of people thought he could do _better._ "How so?"

Artemis took a sip from her drink as she mulled over her words. "It's like…the Knight gets the job done, right? He takes out threats, and that's clearly what he cares about. But the people he takes down, even if they're undeniably evil, that's just reactive. Maybe he could do more if he actually had some help, but they can't. People fear him, sure, but its not just the criminals. He's done things that are only possible with massive invasions of privacy, or endangering civilians. Law enforcement can't work with someone like that. People don't _trust_ him."

Alex frowned as she tried to parse out what Artemis was saying. "Well, he seems to do well enough for someone who doesn't have powers and works alone."

Artemis laughed once again, but there was bitterness in it that sent a shiver down Alex's spine, something that not even dangerous aliens could normally do. "I'm not talking about that. He gets results, fine. But Supergirl is a symbol for people, people all across the globe. People have rallied under her name, done _good_ because that's what she does. The Dark Knight barely manages to avoid becoming everything he fights against every time he goes out."

By the end of her tirade, Artemis was breathing heavier, her face flushed. Tentatively, Alex reached out her hand to rest it on the other woman's, but Artemis snapped back to herself before Alex could make contact. Artemis downed the rest of her drink and began pouring another one.

"Sorry." She apologized with a sickly smile. "I tend to get worked up about this stuff."

Alex could see that. There was something niggling at the back of her brain, but she couldn't put a finger on it. She opened her mouth to say something…

"Step off, you….stupid lady person!"

Alex recognized her sister's voice, slightly slurred in a way she hadn't ever heard before. Her head whipped around, and saw Kara almost nose to nose with the woman that had been hanging off of Barry's arm earlier.

Shit, this was exactly what she had feared would happen. If things turned into a slap fight between the two women, then Kara could liquify the other woman accidently.

"Sorry, girl, I didn't know you two were together." Surprisingly, the other woman seemed lucid and calm, putting her arms up defensively.

"Not together." Barry interjected. The metahuman was swaying slightly, and didn't look to be in full control of his faculties, but apparently denying that he and Kara were involved was reflexive.

The other woman arched an eyebrow and looked between the two. "Oh, is that right? Then what was with all the flirting?"

"Bantering! Bantering isn't romance exclusive!" Kara objected. She held up a flash and took a swig from a flask in her hand, and Alex noted with mounting horror that it was the flask Barry had stolen from Winn.

The woman frowned, as if trying to figure out a puzzle, then suddenly brightened. A devious smile overtook her face, and she sashayed back over to the inebriated superhero. "Well, since I don't see a name anywhere, I'd say he's up for grabs." She shot a look over at the blonde superheroine with a challenging look. "That is, unless you disagree?"

Barry didn't seem to understand what was going on, but he backed up from the woman that was getting closer to him. "Uh, Kara? Whattz goin' on?"

Kara glared at the woman, and for a moment Alex thought she would have to try and restrain the woman, but instead she drained the rest of the flask and stumbled over to the two. She gave the other woman a hard look and then grabbed Barry by the face, jerking him down to her level.

A loud crack reverberated throughout the bar, and Alex closed her eyes in exasperation.

"Holy crap, is your friend alright?" Artemis asked. Alex wondered why she didn't call for the bouncer to come in, even if it was completely unnecessary.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Alex said with a sigh. "This has happened every single time she's tried to kiss a guy."

Barry clutched his nose in pain with tears running down his face, stumbling back and falling on the ground. Alex could tell from over ten feet away that he was unconscious. Several people began swarming around him in panic, while others began laughing.

Kara met the flummoxed woman's gaze with steel she normally reserved for supervillains. "Mine." She announced.

Then she tried to take a step, and also fell over.

"Okay, maybe this was a bad idea." Winn admitted. Alex started slightly, having forgotten that he was there. "Alex, you pay the tab, I'll get our lightweights."

The man stumbled over to the two downed heroes, clearly not entirely sober either. Alex snorted, with a smile pulling at the end of her mouth. "Artemis, you heard the man."

Artemis grinned, and something in Alex made her note that it seemed to make her grey eyes sparkle. "The performance that your friends have been putting on for the past hours increased our sales by over 20% than it would have been at this time of night. It's on the house."

"Urgh, Alex! A little help here?" Winn had tried to pick up both of his friends but couldn't balance with both of them on either side and was close to toppling over. Alex made her goodbyes and thanked the bartender profusely before hustling over to grab her sister.

"So, do you really think tonight was a bust? I thought you of all people would enjoy watching all that." Alex asked as they guided their drunken luggage out through the street.

Winn made an ambiguous noise as he re-adjusted his grip on Barry, the speedster's head lolling slightly to the side. "I would've preferred it if they made this progress sober." He admitted. "As it is, I have a feeling they'll push it down in an attempt to not make it awkward."

Alex shrugged. "They're adults. I trust them to be able to handle themselves professionally no matter what happens between them."

Winn re-adjusted the taller man to give Alex an incredulous look. "Wow, what's got you in such a good mood? You didn't even have anything to drink."

Alex found herself hard-pressed to not smile, and her hand tingled slightly. "No reason."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Day 18_

"Oh Rao, why must you punish me this way?" Kara groaned, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands as she hunched over the table. What little light filled the room seemed to stab it's way into her brain, and her mouth felt like it was full of sand.

"Stop yelling, I'm trying to concentrate…" Barry muttered, his own voice barely above a whisper. Kara cracked her eyes open and she saw the speedster, as disheveled as she'd ever seen him, vibrating just enough to blur his outline. The buzzing was probably soft enough to barley be heard by most humans, but it was like chainsaws in Kara's sensitive ears.

"Barry, if you don't stop that I will punch you through the wall." She warned. The man ignored her as lightening began to zip across his blurred form, and Kara was fully prepared to make good on her threat when suddenly Barry's eyes shot open, and his eyes were full of yellow lightning.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Winn burst into the room, flooding it with stabby light. Kara groaned with pain, and expected Barry to groan with her, but he did no such thing. The vibrating stopped, and Barry stood up with a stupid grin on his face, the yellow light in his eyes fading.

"What's going on is that I just figured out a way to deal with any future hangovers I have." Barry said smugly, crossing his arms.

In the blink of an eye, Kara was upon the man, nearly vomiting from how fast she had moved. "Tell me, Barry." She demanded, practically nose to nose. " _Tell me!"_

"Uh, I don't know if it'll work for you." Barry tried, looking panicked.

" _Do it."_ Kara growled.

Barry reached out and grabbed her shoulders, then began to vibrate. Kara's head began to swim as she began to shake too, closing her eyes as her headache seemed to clear. Suddenly, her headache slammed back into her, making her almost double up in pain.

"Why'd you stop?" She croaked, opening her eyes. For the first time, Barry Allen had gone completely red, and he had put several feet between them. Kara turned her gaze to Winn questioningly, but he averted his gaze, also red.

"Alright, who the hell is making that noise?" Alex burst into from their shared room, a toothbrush in her hand and traces of foam around her mouth. Neither men spoke up, forcing Kara to do so despite her continuing hangover.

"Barry was vibrating, trying to heal me. Sorry." She got out.

Alex frowned. "I didn't hear any vibrating, I just wanted whoever was moaning like that to stop."

Moaning? Who was…

"Oh, uh, you must've misheard." Kara got out. "Or maybe it was one of the neighbors." She kept her face neutral, and mentally dared Winn and Barry to say anything contrary. Luckily, they seemed just as reticent to talk. Alex didn't look totally convinced, but moved on.

"Look, we're going to be doing things differently today." Alex said authoritatively. "We need to do a bit of investigating before anything else."

"Why?" Barry asked. His face was still slightly red, but his curiosity trumped his embarrassment. "Did you figure something out?"

"Not me." Alex denied, her face hardening. She briefly disappeared into her room and re-appeared with a slip of paper that she handed to the nearest person, being Kara.

Kara focused her slightly wavering vision on the paper, which was penned with a neat hand.

_Tomorrow afternoon, 2:30 pm_

_Everton Country Club, Ground Floor_

_No interference_

Kara passed the paper around as she tried to process the information. Winn pulled up the information on Everton Country Club and frowned.

"It says here that Everton Country Club has been closed for the past seven months due to several of the guests getting food poisoning. Why would someone give you this information? Scratch that, how did someone give you this information?"

"That's what we're going to find out. I found this slipped in my coat pocket after we got back to the hotel. Since we didn't patrol last night, that means someone at the bar must've given it to me." Alex said.

She pointed to Winn and Kara. "You two are going to go check out the Everton country club. On the off chance that it's lined with lead and Kara can't see inside, Winn will sneak in and out. Consider it part of your training."

"Maybe Barry should go with Kara," Winn interrupted, "If we're going to get this done before the time on the paper, Kara may still be hungover. If there's actually something there Barry can get them both out of there."

Kara frowned at the man, more than a little insulted. "I can take care of myself, Winn. I'm still invulnerable." She reminded him.

Winn gave her a pointed look and walked over to the closed blinds. He put a hand on them to open them, nearly letting the light peak through them…

"Okay! Fine, you've made your point. Get me a pair of sunglasses and we'll head over." Kara grumbled. She took a few steps back to her chair that once again left her nauseous, and collapsed.

Alex frowned at the Winn, who gave her a significant look. "Fine, that'll work I suppose," She said. "As long as things aren't weird for you two."

Kara's brows furrowed as she looked at her sister. "Why would things be weird?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex knocked on the door of the karaoke bar and stood back, folding her arms and doing her best to appear menacing. It was a look that got results.

"What?" She asked sharply, not even sparing a glance at Winn. She could hear him open and closing his jaw without saying anything, a sure sign that he wanted to say something but was trying to work up the nerve.

"It's just…" He got out. "You're fidgeting."

Alex froze. She did not fidget. Alex Danvers was not a fidgeter.

Yet she realized that even as she was thinking that, her foot was tapping on the ground impatiently and her hands wouldn't keep still by her sides. She forced her entire body to stop and pretended nothing had happened. Unfortunately, Winn wasn't content to leave her alone.

"You don't have to be all stoic you know." Winn said. "I know how you feel."

Alex knocked on the door again, now more insistently, and turned back to her fellow agent. "It's nothing, Winn. I'm just a little antsy waiting for Kara and Barry to see if there's anything at the Country Club."

"Alex, there's no shame in admitting that you got caught off guard." Winn said bluntly. "You're a lot of things: genius biologist, kickass agent, and really scary friend. But even you can't be on guard all the time."

A light bulb went off in Alex's head. He thought that she was freaked out that someone had managed to slip the paper into her pocket without her noticing.

It didn't.

If the source of the information turned out to be good, then whoever had slipped it to her was someone that they wanted on their side. If they could find out who that was, then that skill would be something that Alex could depend on, rather than fear.

Especially if it was who Alex thought it was.

But Winn didn't need to hear any of that now. She turned to give him some sort of excuse when the door to the bar opened, revealing the tall black bartender that had been there the previous night.

"Can I help you?" He asked, his tone polite. "I must inform you that we won't be open for lunch until…lunch time." He smiled at his joke, but neither Alex nor Winn smiled.

"Mr. Mills, I'm Agent Alex Danvers and this is my partner Winslow Schott. We're with the CIA, and we need to see the video tapes from last night."

Andrew Mills's eyebrows climbed up to his forehead, and he moved to let them into the bar. The two DEO agents quickly went to the back room, where they found the setup. There were only two cameras in the bar, and it only went back forty eight hours, fairly standard for a business that frequently saw people getting into fights, but hopefully it would get them what they needed.

They fast forwarded to the point where the National City denizens entered the bar, and from then on the two watched the footage like a pair of hawks, Mills going back to preparing his bar for lunch as they worked.

To be honest, Alex didn't really expect to see anything for most of their time there, but she continued paying attention nonetheless.

She watched…

And watched…

And watched…

There.

Alex froze the video and pointed to the image transfixed on the screen. Just as she'd thought, it captured one particular image: Artemis Crock stretching across the bar and managing to get her fingers into Alex's pocket as Alex turned to go help Kara and Barry.

She grinned victoriously. "Got you." She muttered.

"Mr. Mills!" She called. "I need all the information you have on Artemis Crock."

The bar owner poked his head in and frowned. "Who?"

Alex gestured at the screen, her grin undimmed. "Artemis Crock. I need to find out where she lives."

Winn, who was typing furiously on his own computer, frowned. "Alex, er, Agent Danvers, I can't find any records of anyone living in Gotham named Artemis Crock."

Mills frowned and threw in his two cents. "And I've never seen that woman before in my life."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara sighed as she switched off her x-ray vision, something that was becoming much more frequent. "Lead lined walls." She groused. "Give me a second, I'll try and hear if there's any heartbeats inside." Once again, she stilled, her focus on the world outside even as a crowd moved around her.

Barry didn't mind. He guided her by the elbow and moved them through the crowds as Kara did her work, slowly inching their way towards the country club. They were almost a mile away from the actual location they were checking up on. He could've simply run them closer, but any movements over 100 miles per hour seemed to make Kara throw up.

Wimp.

Barry chuckled to himself, and gently pulled Kara down to sit next to him on a bench across from a café. They'd already had breakfast, but he had a feeling that Kara would be up for second breakfast.

It took a few seconds for Barry to realize that he was staring at the alien woman, and he hoped that Kara couldn't hear his heart rate hitch up. Kara didn't actually look any different that morning compared to any other, other than wearing sweatpants and sunglasses due to her hangover, but at that minute Barry couldn't take his eyes off of her.

…Why did his nose hurt?

Kara came back to herself, and there was a broad smile on her face that spoke of victory. "Thirteen heartbeats were in there." She confirmed. "I couldn't judge whether or not they were human though. We'd need to get closer for that."

"Guess that means we should load up, just in case." Barry 'suggested', snapping back to himself. He felt slightly flushed in the face, but hoped Kara couldn't see it through her sunglasses. His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he had to give it something other than coffee.

Kara grinned at him, and Barry felt a smile start to form at the corners of his mouth as well, even though she hadn't done anything. "You're speaking my language, Flash."

Barry quirked an eyebrow at they started towards the café. "Being a little cavalier with the secret identities today, huh?"

Kara gave him a wicked grin that sent an odd sort of shiver down his spine. "Well, you didn't seem to have any trouble revealing it to people at the bar last night." She informed him.

Barry's stomach dropped out and he let out a long, low groan. "Oh god, please tell me I didn't." He begged.

Kara had no mercy. "Oh yeah," She said, clearly enjoying herself. "Not that the word 'Flash' meant much to them. Now if you had said 'Blur' on the other hand…"

Barry grumbled half-heartedly at the name that Kara's former boss had saddled him with. "I have got to get her to change that name."

Kara laughed loud enough to make herself wince in pain. "Good luck trying to convince Ms. Grant of that. I still have to work sometimes just to get her to remember my actual birth name."

Barry snorted. That did sound like something that the woman would do. "Well then maybe I can get in better with James, get _him_ to change the name." He suggested. The man had been named the new CEO of CatCo just a few days ago, much to many people's surprise. The man was a photographer, after all, not a businessman.

Well, Cat Grant did tend to have good instincts.

"I wouldn't count on that happening." Kara warned, an awkward edge to her voice. The conversation lapsed as they entered the café and ordered their food. Barry took a sip of water and thought over her words.

She was right. Barry had briefly forgotten that the man didn't exactly like him. Not that he thought that James _disliked_ him either, but the fact that so many people thought that Barry was a factor in Kara breaking up with him wasn't an endearing quality.

Barry cleared his throat. "So, what else did I do at the bar last night? I need to know in case any of it ends up on the internet."

"Well you ended up drinking an entire bottle of vodka after downing a dozen shots." Kara informed him with a grin.

Barry's jaw hung open slightly. "Wow, even if it didn't affect me, that does _not_ sound like a good idea." As he tried to recall, he could feel the ghost of a hot line of liquid tracing its way down his throat and pooling in his stomach…as well as some sort of pain in his nose again. What was that?

"Yeah, just imagine if you had actually spiked them. Maybe then you would still be suffering the same pain I am." Kara grumbled, an involuntary pout forming on her face.

Barry laughed, much to her consternation, which was quickly quelled by the arrival of their food. Both began inhaling mounds of it, much to the bemused shock of both the staff and other patrons.

"Even though I bet you're regretting it now, how did you like drinking for the first time?" Barry asked curiously.

Kara tilted her head slightly as she dipped her bacon in syrup before gobbling it down. "Not as bad as I thought. I didn't do anything too embarrassing, so I guess that stuff's just in movies. It felt…nice." She admitted.

Barry grinned. "Glad you think so. I'm definitely going to see if Lar can get me some more of that stuff."

"I think you might be becoming an alcoholic, Barry."

Barry rolled his eyes good naturedly before he was suddenly reminded of something he had wanted to ask. "Oh yeah, what made you end up drinking, anyway? I have a feeling that Alex didn't pressure you into it."

The woman cleared her throat and took a bite of toast. Barry couldn't exactly tell given her sunglasses, but he had a feeling she wasn't meeting his eyes. "Saw a cute guy, needed a little courage."

Oh.

….Oh.

Despite feeling like he had just been punched in the gut, Barry forced a grin. Supportive, be supportive. "So, how'd it go? Get his number?"

"Ah, no. No. He, uh, had someone to get home to."

Barry's smile became a touch more real, but his stomach still felt tight. "Poor guy. Guess he'll never know how close he came to making 'first contact', huh?" He joked.

Dear god, he was dealing with his uncomfortable feelings by making jokes? He really _had_ been spending too much time with Winn.

Kara laughed, Barry joining in, and it dissolved some of the tension Barry was feeling.

Some of it.

"I don't know about me, but at some points you seemed to be pretty keen on living up to your mantle. You're lucky that drunk you didn't know how to operate a belt buckle."

"I refuse to believe that. I refuse to believe that my one true nemesis would prove to be my own belt."

"Believe it, bucko. Drunk you is duuuuuuumb."

"Inconceivable! It must have been part of some plan that drunk me had, lowering everyone's guard."

"There was only one thing that drunk you had any interest in lowering, and it wasn't anyone's guards."

The banter at this point was as familiar and easy as breathing, and Barry found himself smiling again. For a brief moment, he found himself wishing that Winn and Lar's teasing was true, that this actually was flirting.

The realization threw him for a moment, and he slipped up. Kara waited for his response expectantly and frowned as he scrambled for an answer.

"Well, I guess I showed them." Barry said, internally wincing at his lame comeback. Kara grinned victoriously.

"Guess I won this round." She crowed.

"Just….eat your food." Barry grumbled half-heartedly. "I'll get you next time."

The meal continued in silence, leaving Barry alone with his thoughts, to ponder what was going on with him.

He was definitely attracted to Kara, he knew that from the moment he had seen her, and he definitely liked her. It was impossible not to, even if one didn't take into account their similarities. As cliché as it was, she brightened up the room when she smiled, she had…brightened up his life. Good moments had been hard to come by for a while since Zoom had shown up, and here there was barely a day he hadn't smiled.

But did he…love her? The same way he had loved Patty? The same was he…still felt about Iris?

And why did that last one feel so uncertain?

There were even points where he had thought that she felt the same way towards him but…there was just no way, right?

The ticket for their meal came, and Barry reached out to grab it. Kara gave him a questioning look and Barry shrugged as casually as he was able to.

"I lost this round." He reminded her. "I pay."

Kara smiled at him, and the sunlight once again seemed to shine a little brighter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _Are you sure that you can't track down this woman, Agent Danvers? The timing on getting any agents there might be a little tight."_ J'onn warned.

"I believe we'll have a little wiggle room, sir." Alex said firmly. "I can't imagine that the spectators will want the matches to end quickly, so we have several hours at least to catch both them and the traffickers."

" _And your informant?"_

Alex mulled over her words, trying to figure out how best to put the situation.

On Mills's advice, they had tracked down the bartender who was supposed to have taken over last night, and had gotten no response at the door. However, after a few well-put words (mainly involving 'police' and 'have the place surrounded'), the bartender had opened the door, incredibly confused. After helping him calm down, the man was able to fuzzily recall answering the door the previous night and having something shoved into his face. Alex had asked if he could remember the color of his attacker's hair.

Blonde.

So, the woman claiming to be Artemis Crock had somehow known about the fighting ring, which Kara and Barry had been able to confirm, as well as why Alex and her team had been in the city in the first place. All without any of them realizing that they were being tracked.

If Alex hadn't been impressed before, she sure as hell was now.

"No, I don't think that we'll be able to track her down any time soon." Alex finally said into her phone.

" _Alright. Keep a safe distance from the target, and report in if anything changes. With all likelihood, we will have an adequate force of agents there at 3:00. J'onn out."_

The call ended, and Alex stowed away her phone, feeling the unfamiliar stirrings of guilt in her stomach. She didn't like lying to J'onn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl heard the sound of bones crunching as one of the fighters was sent to the ground. It bothered her intensely to not be able to see inside the building, with the only information she was able to work off of being sound and smell.

She could hear a lot of grunts of pain.

She could smell a lot of blood.

" _We're in place. How are things up in the air?"_ Alex's voice came over the coms just as steady as always. She didn't have to listen to the brutality inside to make sure that nothing was going wrong, and Supergirl envied her for that.

Supergirl shook her head, annoyance at herself taking the place of envy. She was being unfair and she knew it. She was still off due to her hangover, which apparently even the DEO had no cure to.

" **Things are fine."** Martian Manhunter reported. **"Mr. Allen, do you have enough restraints for this?"**

" _Definitely."_ Flash said confidently. His job was to take out any of the handlers before they could release the aliens. Given how fast his speed was increasing Supergirl had a feeling he could also arrest all of the spectators as well given a few extra seconds but didn't bring it up. Neither she nor Flash had any legal ability to arrest anyone, given that they legally didn't exist, so it was up to the agents who had jurisdiction to do the actual arresting.

Supergirl and Martian Manhunter waited until everything was confirmed, then plummeted towards the Country Club, Supergirl spotting a trail of lightning below them as Flash phased into the building below them.

There was the possibility that someone would be able to notice Flash's presence before he was done, which was where she and Martian Manhunter came in. Two alien superheroes crashing down through the ceiling tended to be a bit distracting.

It was all over in seconds.

The last of the debris from their entrance wasn't even gone before all of the spectators, masked men and women in expensive dresses and suits, were all in cuffs, several screaming for their lawyers. One of the aliens in the fighting ring had resisted their attempts to free him, but Supergirl's fist put a quick end to his objections. The other one, as well as the other fighters, were only too grateful for their intervention.

"Huh, I didn't know that Supergirl wore sunglasses." One of the aliens had commented to one of his fellow fighters, somehow able to speak English fairly well despite his reptilian snout. Supergirl thought about removing the mentioned items, but the sun still seemed to have a vendetta against her.

"Well, that went a lot easier than I would've thought." Flash commented, idly watching all of the parties involved going about their jobs. At some point he had found his way over to her, though he seemed oddly reserved.

Supergirl nudged him gently-well, gently for her-and gave a theatrical groan. "I thought you were the veteran hero." She teased. "You should know that saying that always means something worse is going to come."

"Yeah, yeah." Flash waved a hand dismissively. "As a _scientist_ , Kara, I should know that the universe doesn't run on narrative convenience."

"Yes, but you work with forensic evidence. Forgive me if I don't feel that your findings apply to the universe as a whole."

"You know, you're right, I do work with evidence. And I see no _evidence_ that saying anything like that will invite conflict."

"Yeah, well…"

"Hah, guess I win this round! Looks like you pay for our next meal, huh Kara?...Kara?"

Kara grit her teeth as she stumbled back, sudden pain blooming in her gut. It felt like bees were worming around in her stomach, trying to find a way out. And it _was_ finding a way out.

She opened her mouth, either to speak or scream she wasn't sure, and a stream of nanobots forced its way out of her throat into the open air. Before her eyes, they began swarming around both her and Barry, then were suddenly gone.

No, not gone. Just moving. She could see them streaming into the air, attracting the attention of most of the DEO agents and spectators.

Kara went cold. She had completely forgotten that she had inhaled a mouthful of the fog back near the beginning of the assignment, having assumed that they went inert and were digested.

In a flash, she was at Winn's side, her hangover seeming to fade as panic made its way to the forefront of her mind. "Winn, did the nanobots you analyzed have audio capability?"

Winn looked shaken, not surprising considering he had just seen his best friend belch up a swarm of robots. "Uh, yes, they do. Why? Wait, what just-?"

Kara didn't stay around to hear the rest of Winn's question. Those nanobots that had been in her had had the opportunity to hear secrets about herself, Barry and the DEO that couldn't be allowed for anyone to know.

She took to the skies, managed to find the nanobots that were heading towards the city, and was after them, with a stream of lightning following close behind.

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"Guys, we ran into a bit of a problem…guys? Winn? Alex? J'onn?"

There was no response, not even static, from Barry's com system. He wanted to pace to relive some of the panic he was feeling, but he could barely move his arms, let alone his legs. He tried to spin fast enough to get some updraft, but his movements were too restricted. He couldn't phase, he couldn't build up enough speed to do so, but even if he _could,_ he probably wouldn't. What if he couldn't keep it up, and was crushed under several thousand tons of stone.

" _Barry?"_ he heard from far above. Barry's head shot up towards the spot he had fallen in, but it was still sealed. The sound was coming from his com.

"Kara? Are you okay? What's happening up there?" Barry asked into his coms desperately, hearing his voice echo slightly as it made its way up the shaft of the hole he had fallen into.

" _Barry…my powers aren't working. My coms aren't working either."_

That wasn't everything. Her voice was too calm, too even, but she wasn't saying anything else.

"Who do you think did this?" He asked.

" _Well, whoever it is, they have access to enough advanced tech to replicate red sunlight, can selectively block out our coms, and can control the Fog. I think I have an idea."_ Kara chuckled over the coms, and her breathing sounded unusually heavy.

Barry felt a chill go down his spine. "The Dark Knight did this to us? Why?"

" _Alex did say that he was really defensive of his city. Guess we didn't realize_ how _protective."_

Barry didn't like to swear. It wasn't who he was. However, he did resolve to shove a lightning bolt straight up the Dark Knight's Arrow-wantabe-black-clad-

" _So, how'd he get you? I can't see you anywhere."_

Kara's words jolted him out of his reverie, and he couldn't help but chuckle grimly.

"I was trying to scope out the place before I went in, and a hole opened up right underneath me, timed precisely to when I put my foot there. I think I'm…two stories down? Three?"

" _Surprised you didn't break your legs."_ Kara said lightly.

Barry snorted. "I did. I finally figure out how to speed up my healing, and I'm stuck at the bottom of a hole." He could also _feel_ how much of a drain the rapid healing was on him and estimated that he only had twenty or so minutes until he passed out of hyperglycemia. "How'd he get you?"

" _Well, mine's not as cool as yours. The lights turned on while I was in the air, and I lost my powers. Pretty sure I've got some pretty wicked bruises."_ Once again, Barry had the feeling she was holding something back, but if she wasn't going to volunteer it, then it was unlikely that she would tell it to him even if he pressed her.

"That on top of the hangover? Brutal." He tried to joke.

" _Actually, my hangover is pretty much gone. Guess there's an upside to this situation after all."_ She joked back. Then she coughed heavily. _"Never let it be said that I'm not optimism incarnate."_

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Kara laid on the floor as Barry and her continued to banter. She wished she could enjoy the familiar back-and-forth, but every thought seemed to come down a long tunnel. She tried to move slightly, spotting a part of the floor that stood out as irregular in the red light. That was likely the spot Barry had fallen in.

A stab of pain interrupted her efforts, and Kara gasped in pain as she felt more blood trickle out of her mouth. She grit her teeth and tried again. If she could make it to the door…

She had broken some of her ribs in the fall. That by itself probably wouldn't have stopped her from moving if she had her powers, but given that she was powerless and that one of her ribs seemed to have punctured one of her organs, even thinking was becoming painful.

Barry asked her a question and Kara frowned as she tried to recall exactly what he had said. The corners of her vision were getting dark, and she could feel sleep pulling her down into a comforting sleep.

She would reach the door, she knew she would.

…After a short nap.

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Alex could barely see straight, and it was a miracle that each footstep managed to land on the ground. Her target was fixed clearly in her mind, and nothing would deter her from it. Not speed limits, not the questions of her superiors, and _certainly_ not a _fuckiing door._

There were multiple weapons pointed at her after the door gave way beneath her boot, but none of them looked willing to fire. None of them were important. In fact, her target just calmly continued to fire at the target several hundred feet away.

Bulls-eye.

"Where are they?" Alex growled. Artemis Crock, or whoever the hell she was, looked up at her coolly, and part of Alex noted that the woman seemed much taller than the last time they had met.

"How did you find me?" Artemis countered, calmly starting to unstring her bow. Alex's teeth began to grind together and her hand twitched towards her gun. She turned her glare towards all of the other people in the shooting hall, and they quickly evacuated.

"You told me you did archery." Alex said tersely. "This is the only indoor archery range in the city that doesn't require one to become some sort of member to practice, just pay the cash."

Artemis nodded, a slight smile on her face as if impressed. "Very good." She complimented. "And just for clarification, you wanted to know where Kara and Barry are, correct?"

Something in Alex snapped, and she ruthlessly put the blonde woman in an arm bar, perhaps applying too much force. "Tell me or you're going to be under arrest, and I'll see to it that you're put in Arkham with those other sick fucks you put away." She hissed.

Artemis stayed silent for a moment, then _moved_. In the blink of an eye, their positions were reversed, with Alex being in the one in a brutal arm bar. "Don't make threats you can't follow up on. You have no evidence."

She then released Alex and stepped back, letting Alex spin back around.

Calm down, she told herself. Calm down. Every second that you don't know where Kara is, is a second that she could be in some sort of danger. It wouldn't do to underestimate what the blonde woman could do, even to a Kryptonian.

"Your sister is fine. Her partner is too." Artemis said suddenly. "Though I imagine they're not enjoying themselves right now."

Alex's anger rose up again, threatening to make her erupt, but she pushed it down as much as possible. "I don't suppose you could offer up any proof?" She said sarcastically.

To her surprise, Artemis silently removed a smart phone from her pocket and handed it to Alex. She snatched it and saw two different video feeds. One was a night vision display of Barry, wedged into some sort of deep hole. The other one was of Kara, unconscious on the ground, red light bathing her.

"Why is Kara unconscious?" She demanded to the woman, tearing her eyes off of the phone.

"Diluted Scarecrow smoke." Artemis answered promptly. "The moment she landed and was effectively human I blasted her with it. She should be going through some minor fear right now. She might be lethargic and jumpy when she wakes up though."

Alex eyed the images on the phone and tried to deduce what she could from the video feeds, but could find very little. The interior appeared to be a warehouse, completely stripped to the bones.

"What do you want?" Alex finally asked. "Why do this? I thought you said you were a fan of Supergirl."

Artemis nodded and abruptly started to head down to the targets to retrieve her arrows. Alex followed at a close distance behind, silently drawing her gun.

"It's true I'm a fan of Supergirl." Artemis admitted. "And that's actually part of why I did this. She needs to get better."

Alex found herself taken aback. "I thought you said it was the Dark Knight…er…you, who could stand to learn from Supergirl."

Artemis ripped an arrow from her target and nodded distractedly. "Again, true. However, that's not to say that she can't learn something from _me_ either. For instance, keeping our secret identities."

"I figured out who you were." Alex felt compelled to remind her.

Artemis waved her finger at Alex and made a disappointed sound. "No, I decided to let you find me. I was able to track you down, give you the information you needed to track me to a specific location, and then showed up here exactly when you needed to find me. Meanwhile, any decent facial location software could put your sister's identity at risk."

"Not true." Alex said firmly. "Ever since she came out to the public we've been keeping track of anyone who has the resources to do that. When they tried, we made sure to show them how bad of an idea that was. They haven't tried since."

For some reason, that seemed to make Artemis happy. She grinned at Alex as she once again ripped out an arrow and returned it to her quiver. "Very good," She praised, "And as long as you're at her side and keep up that competence she's good, I suppose."

There was something in her tone that put Alex off. "I'm always going to be at her side." She stated.

At this, Artemis scoffed. "No one can be at your sister's side constantly. Not even the Blur can, though he seems to be trying."

Alex narrowed her eyes as she tried to parse out the woman's meaning. "You think Supergirl should be more like you? Like a loner?"

"Not at all." Artemis said. Then she tilted her head to the side. "Well, not entirely." She amended. "Kara is _good_ at what she does, which is stopping crimes, putting away aliens, and inspiring people. While she could become better at those things, I think she can become even more."

Alex arche an eyebrow. "I think Kara manages just fine." She said coolly.

Artemis arched an eyebrow right back and smirked. "Sure, that's why she was able to be taken down by a baseline human with minimal planning. Which would've been a lot harder for me if she had remembered to tell you about the load of bugs she swallowed."

"Don't expect me to believe that it was as easy as you're making it out to be. Kara's better than you give her credit for." Alex defended.

To her utter surprise, Artemis threw back her head and laughed. "Easy? Alex, I had to _go out of my way_ to make sure that she didn't die during this whole song-and-dance. There were enough Fog-bots inside her that I could've had them block her airway while she slept. She still has to breathe after all. I easily could've used Joker venom rather than Scarecrow smoke, or hell, even just used a turret to put her down after she lost her powers!"

Alex gaped at the woman, who wiped a tear out of her eye and sporadically broke out in chuckles. "She'll be better next time." Alex managed to say.

Artemis's chuckles faded, and she nodded seriously. "Damn right she will be. Alex, you don't seem to realize just how much potential she has. She is _literally_ the strongest being in the universe. No amount of training will ever make her stronger, but it can make her better."

"You don't think Superman is stronger? Most people seem to." Alex asked.

Artemis shook her head, a slight frown on her lips. "Superman is just as strong as her, but the man's not as open to improvement. He's never _had_ to improve to win."

"So what you want…is to help train Kara? I thought you of all people would…" She trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"Want to have a way to take her down?" Artemis finished. "Well, no amount of training will make her immune to red sunlight or kryptonite, and I doubt that she'll ever reach my level of planning, no offense. And if she does go crazy or something, we can just have Blur run her down."

Alex was getting very tired of being surprised where Artemis Crock was concerned. "You think that Barry could defeat Kara?"

"Well, look at it this way; Kara may be able to learn how to use her powers better, but they'll never improve. Barry can both improve his power _and_ how he uses it. I'd put the odds of him being able to kill her at…40%." Artemis estimated.

Alex shook her head in exasperation, but still didn't lower the gun. "All of this…just so you can help her improve?"

"Help both of them." Artemis corrected. "Those two have a long way to come, both separately and as a team. But no, actually. I do have other reasons."

Alex scowled. Of course, it couldn't be that easy. "What do you want?" She asked, repeating her question from the very beginning of this screwed up meeting.

Artemis shrugged. "Nothing big. I train Barry and Kara, and in return they help me take down the League of Shadows."

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Barry was numb. Kara had gone silent hours ago, and the coms still weren't working. He had a feeling she had been understating her injuries severely. He had been so desperate that he had actually tried phasing, but his body began to tear itself apart, and he'd been forced to stop.

When light began to filter down form above, he was half convinced that he had gone crazy, both from lack of food and out of concern.

Then a rope had descended, and he heard a familiar voice from up above.

"Come on up, slowpoke!"

Kara was alive.

Barry grabbed onto the rope and began to scale it. For the first few feet his relief and jubilation carried him, but that was quickly replaced with intense burning in his hands, arms and back.

He finally managed to collapse onto the ground, certain that his arms were going to fall off, and vaguely aware that there were people standing above him.

"I see that you were right, Alex. We're going to have to work on his upper body strength."

Barry craned his head up and saw that the speaker was a blonde-haired woman with dark eyes and a darker smirk on her face.

He managed to make it to his feet and tried to look around, only to be attacked by a missile in blue and red. He tensed up for a moment, then decided to return the hug.

"Can't believe my arch nemesis turned out to be a hole." He mumbled, his words partially obscured by her hair. Kara laughed, and pulled back.

"At least you weren't beaten by a supped up red flashlight." She offered, a wide grin on her face.

"I was also concerned for you two!" Winn called over. "I just prefer to keep my flirting for times that aren't meeting the woman who managed to beat me."

Barry and Kara pulled away from each other, Barry opening his mouth to (half-heartedly) defend himself, when Winn's words caught up to him. He turned towards the group, but the only unfamiliar person was the blonde woman.

"I thought the Dark Knight was the one who captured us." He came up with.

The blonde shrugged. "The Dark Knight did. You can call me Artemis though, Dark Knight is kind of a mouthful."

"…I was under the impression that the Dark Knight was a guy." Barry said before he could stop himself.

"Well, clearly, you were wrong."

**END ARC 1**

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**Happy Birthday, Flip a Coin! Your gift is this chapter.**

**Wow, that was a lot to get off my chest. I've wanted to do this ever since chapter two and since I'm sure the lack of Batman in this chapter is going to piss some people off, so here are my reasons:**

**FIRST, I am under no obligation to remain consistent with the larger DC Universe, as this is not the larger DC Universe. Even the canon shows aren't consistent with the larger DC Universe.**

**SECOND, I didn't want to use Batman. I know that stories like Call Me Kara and Seeing Red do, while stories like Karry Universe don't because they don't like Batman. Personally, I'm ambivalent to him. Artemis, on the other hand, is one of my favorite characters, and I wanted to put her in the story.**

**THIRD, it opens the possibility for me to write Artemis's backstory. Or for someone else to write it, if they want to ask me permission.**

**FOURTH, because I wanted to.**

**That said, don't expect the Waynes to be left out of this story. You can't have a Gotham without at least one Wayne running around causing trouble.**

**Alright, that's all for today. Don't remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW**


	9. Partners in Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which nothing of the least importance happens

**Begin Arc 2: Justice**

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_Night 94_

"It's not a date." Barry reaffirmed, not taking his eyes off his paperwork, despite the fact that it was already completed. He had been getting better at using the Speed Force to subtly do his paperwork without Charles noticing, so he was nearly done with all of it for today.

The downside to that was that he didn't have much to distract him from Charles's questioning.

"Dude, you're past the point that you can deny that you're dating. Sawyer said that she saw you two eating at Silver Sunset. Alone. What reason could you have for going to Silver Sunset if it wasn't for a date?"

"Well, we got banned from Lucille's after we both managed to finish the challenge burger in under five minutes each and we were still hungry. Silver Sunset just so happened to be the closest open restaurant…that also hadn't banned us." Barry explained calmly, still not looking up. He knew all too well the look that Charles would be giving him.

"Again, I ask; what would compel you two to be at a restaurant alone if it wasn't for a date? Even a place like Lucille's qualifies."

"Because if I didn't take Kara to a place that serves actual food when I win our contests then we would just sit at home eating pot stickers and pizza." Now, Barry was as fond of pot stickers and pizza as any other guy, but at some point, he had to draw a line.

Barry heard the squeak of Charles's chair as he leaned back and sighed in exasperation. "Fine," Charles conceded, "Maybe those don't qualify to you dense idiots, but tonight definitely has to be a date. Barry, you forced me to help you go buy a suit!"

"It's a work event," Barry protested, "Her boss is making her write an article on the play and gave her two tickets." He made the mistake of looking up and saw the smirk cross Charles's face as he pounced on the new information.

"Then why didn't she take her hot sister? Or that other guy, what's his name…Winn?"

Barry gave his coworker a flat look. "Winn and Alex have to work tonight. And we're on the subject, do you have to mention how attractive you find Alex every chance you get?"

The man being chastised just shrugged and folded his hands in his lap. "Sorry, habit. Have to mention it in front of Sawyer, you know, light a fire under her ass to ask the girl out, and it just kind of stuck."

"Have I mentioned how irritating it is that you keep playing matchmaker for everyone you meet? And Alex isn't gay." Barry asked, putting his paperwork to the side.

Charles snorted. "First off, yes you have told me how irritating it is. That's your fault for introducing me to your friends. And second off, if that girl isn't gay then I'll have to hang up my detective's cap."

"You're a CSI, not a detective."

"You forgot to mention 'incredibly handsome' in my job description, but the point still stands. Now stop trying to distract me from the matter at hand; are you or are you not going to see a musical, alone, with Kara Danvers? The girl you share an apartment with?"

"Yes, but it's not- "

"-And, knowing the two of you, are you going to be going out for dinner beforehand?" Charles interrupted.

"Well yeah, we don't want to be hungry during the play." Internally, Barry chastised himself for falling prey to Charles's machinations. There was no way that this wasn't going to be painful.

"Will it be a fancy restaurant? Candlelight and music? Both of you dressed all nice?" Charles continued to press, leaning forward in his chair intently.

"We have to dress nice, Snapper's seats are really good and she's going to be representing CatCo." Barry answered quickly.

"Mhm." Charles seemed unconvinced. "And the restaurant?"

"Well we don't want to have to change before the play and it'd be weird to be dressed really nicely and not go to a good restaurant…"

Charles lowered his face into his hands. "I swear to God, you two are going to end up married with kids and neither of you will say that you're anything but 'good friends'. Where is it you two are going for dinner, again?"

" _Le Gavroche._ "

Charles threw his hands up in the air and he stared at the sky as if daring someone to strike him with lightning. At the moment, Barry found himself seriously tempted.

Of course, Barry _wished_ it was a date. The past three months had seen him and Kara growing even closer, spending time together out of costume constantly even when there wasn't some sort of emergency that required the Flash and Supergirl. Pretty much the only time that they were apart was when they were at their separate jobs or when it was Girl's Night(TM). Part of him had wished that they expression 'familiarity breeds contempt' would come more into play over the months, but no dice.

That's not to say that everything was sunshine and peaches. One couldn't spend too much time around another person without running into more than few disagreements. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on how you look at it, their 'trainer' did not approve of tension in 'her ranks' _…_

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_Day 46_

" _Alright, you two, sit."_

_Barry awkwardly clambered down onto the ground, knowing that if he didn't, Artemis would just run him ragged to the point that he would just be lying there waiting for training to end. Several feet of distance away, Kara sat down as well, her back stiff._

" _Can't we just get to training?" Barry asked. "This is unnecessary."_

" _Oh, I think its very necessary." Winn chuckled. He, Alex and Artemis were all standing around them. Originally Artemis had only wanted to train Barry and Kara, but Alex had managed to work herself and Winn into the deal as well. This was the first time that Winn actually seemed to be enjoying himself within the training compound._

_Artemis gave Winn a blank look, and the man's smirk disappeared quickly. Barry felt a trill of victory at that until Artemis turned that look on both of them as well._

" _Now, what is upsetting you two?" Artemis asked bluntly._

" _Nothing! Nothing's upsetting us. And frankly, I'm a little insulted that you think we wouldn't be able to work out any issues that we would hypothetically be having." Kara said quickly._

_Barry snorted, unable to help himself, drawing the attention of both blondes to him. "Should've remained quiet, Barry." He muttered to himself. Both women were capable of kicking his ass if they put their mind to it, and he didn't want to piss them off…_

… _Well, anymore than he already had._

" _Okay, we may be having a few issues, but its nothing big. We'll deal with it after training." Barry admitted, trying to defuse the situations._

" _Way to contradict me, Barry." Kara bit out, eyes narrowed at him. "And here I thought we'd agree to not let this interfere with training."_

" _You two are both wrong." Artemis said, with a tone that suggested that this was nothing new, and Barry felt a surge of irritation. "You guys haven't been giving me your best for the past three days, and I feel the need to remind you that if you aren't going to be giving me your best, you might as well not show up at all."_

 _Kara crossed her arms and averted her eyes from the standing woman. Barry had the feeling that both of them would likely be arguing against_ needing _her training a lot more if the Dark Knight didn't make a point of handing their superpowered asses to them every so often._

" _Now, you two are going to tell us three what's got you both so riled up, and we're going to fix it right here and right now." Artemis stated. "Or else."_

 _A shiver went down Barry's spine. Before coming to Earth 38 he had been shot with arrows to teach him a valuable lesson; in the past week he had been shot with both arrows_ and _bullets just to make sure that he wasn't slacking off during training._

" _Fine." He and Kara both muttered in unison._

_Alex sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why do I have a feeling that this is about something stupid?" She asked herself aloud._

" _It's not stupid." Kara protested. "Barry keeps erasing my shows from the DVR."_

_Barry threw up his hands and shot Kara a look. "They expired! My shows just happened to be recorded right after they expire." He countered, slipping back into the by now familiar argument._

" _Yeah, but they expire faster because you insist on recording all those old history shows."_

" _Hey, I record just as many history shows as you do romance shows."_

" _It's my DVR!"_

" _Shut. Up!" Artemis shouted, cutting through their words before Barry could retort. Her fingers twitched towards where her crossbow was holstered on her back, and both Kara and Barry flinched. The woman smiled grimly at their reactions._

" _Kara, you claimed that you and Barry should be able to work out any issues that you two 'might' be having. Now, you two are going to be reasonable adults, and work it out. Right now."_

_Barry looked over at Alex and Winn, who weren't moving away. "Right now?"_

_Artemis looked as if she was trying to maintain a neutral face, but even she couldn't keep a slight smirk from her face. "No, not right now."_

_Barry sighed with relief. Discussing this in front of Alex and Winn would probably be insanely awkward, and he already suspected they were loading up on blackmail material._

" _Because J'onn isn't here yet. He wants constant updates on your conditions, so I believe he will be interested in hearing why your effectiveness has dropped. Ah, here he is now!"_

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Being forced to talk out their problems about how they dealt with issues in their apartment in front of Artemis, J'onn, Winn and Alex really tended to put an end to their pettier disagreements.

The point was, at certain points it actually _felt_ like they were dating, but they weren't. There never seemed to be a good moment to bring up any of his confused feelings, and it would only make things awkward between them, so he never mentioned it.

"Okay, jeez, dude. No need to get all upset." Charles suddenly back off, putting his hands up defensively.

Barry's brow furrowed. "What?" He asked, pulling himself out of his reverie.

"You got a kind of depressed look and went all quiet." Charles explained sheepishly. "I just…dude, you need to make a move at some point. Girls like that don't stay single for long."

Barry frowned at the other CSI. The fact that he was actually considering the other man's words was probably a bad sign, but the words stuck in his head. He hadn't confessed to Iris when both of them were single, and for a long time he had seen that as being the major impediment to their relationship. Of course, now he knew that they were technically fated to be together, but it hadn't felt that way at the time.

On the other hand…Kara was currently single, and he _had_ spotted more than a few guys being interested in her, even if she seemed oblivious to it. It wasn't like there weren't moments where he thought she felt the same, but he couldn't think about taking a step towards asking her out without flashing back to that moment when they had tried to send him back to Earth 1 and both had backed away.

…But they were much closer now, right? Surely not taking action when they had only known each other for only a day didn't mean that they wouldn't work out in the present.

Barry shook his head in irritation and stood up, grabbing his jacket. He knew that if he fell too far into his own thoughts it would lead to nothing but constantly thinking in circles, never coming to a conclusion. Better to enjoy his time here with Kara as partners and friends than torture himself with thoughts of what _could_ be.

"I'll take that under advisement." Barry said, mustering a smile for Charles benefit. The man was nosy, neurotic and more than a little irritating at times, but he did seem to genuinely want what was best for him…even if he didn't understand the full situation. But then, he couldn't exactly tell the man that he was trying to set up National City's two resident heroes together, now could he?

Charles sighed, but smiled back. "See you later, man." He held up a fist for Barry to bump, which Barry did on his way out, rolling his eyes in amusement before grabbing his bag and heading out.

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Charles Vic watched his friend leave with a critical eye, his smile falling away as soon as the taller man turned his back. He had never brought it up to Barry, but he had once wanted to become a detective rather than a forensic scientist, and though life had pushed him into his current profession, he liked to think that his deductive skills were as sharp as even Maggie Sawyer's were.

Barry was a smart guy, and Charles could read in him that he had been betrayed more than once by someone close to him, but Charles didn't make jokes and rile people up for nothing. People let slip more information than they intended when they underestimated someone.

Of course, for most people that included small habits that Charles could use to build up a better picture of their motivations and personality. Barry's were a bit more obvious once you knew what to look for.

After all, how many people were there in National City who could do everyday activities far faster than was humanly possible and tended to zap people with small doses of electricity when they were riled up?

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"It's not a date." Kara insisted. Her arm shot up and she managed to block a punch aimed at her face and tried to get in a body shot, but her target quickly pivoted away and managed to get a glancing blow on her shoulder that tipped her off balance.

"Nothing you can say would convince me otherwise." Alex huffed. She could've pressed her advantage, but she let Kara regain her balance and take up her stance once again as the two sisters circled one another.

Part of Kara was irritated at her sister's skill. There had definitely been a gap in their skills, that much had been evident when they had fought during the Myriad Crises, but Kara had hoped getting instruction from Artemis would narrow that gap. Unfortunately, she was not the only one that Artemis was helping, and the gap between them had grown even larger as Alex took to the Dark Knight's fighting style like a fish to water.

Another part of her, one that Kara had slowly been hearing more of over the past few months, was thrilled that Alex was able to give her a real challenge.

Kara feinted right, then feinted left. Alex brought her arms up to block on the second feint, and Kara lashed out with a high kick that caught Alex right in the sternum, driving her up and back. Her sister managed to roll with the fall and quickly bounced up onto her feet, but Kara was upon her.

Unfortunately, Alex employed her new favorite move, and Kara's blow struck nothing but air. Once again the two were at a stalemate, and they circled one another while planning their next move.

"He doesn't consider it a date, I don't consider it a date, therefore it's not a date." Kara said reasonably. Any attempt to rush her sister would be largely pointless, so best to let Alex come to her.

"I'm not sure he doesn't consider it a date. Isn't he paying for the restaurant that you guys are going to? Which is one of the most expensive restaurants in National City?"

"That's because he lost our latest contest. You were there, I managed to make it around the city twelve times, he only made it around ten." She pointed out.

Alex snorted, and took a moment to brush her hair out of her eyes. Kara felt the impulse to rush her, but suppressed it. She had fallen for that trick before, and it had put her right on her back.

"Kara, he's been faster than you for weeks now, it should've been no contest." She pointed out. "Which makes me wonder why you challenged him to a race at all…?" She trailed off, implication clear in her voice.

Well, her sister had caught on to that one at least. Kara had fully intended to lose that one and be the one to pay for the meal, though not for the reason Alex suspected. She was all too aware of how the night's events would look to their friends, and hopefully her paying for dinner would make it clear it wasn't a date.

Yes, she was taking advantage of a societal belief that she herself often railed against, and felt minorly guilty for it, but that didn't change the what Alex was pointing out. It would've been effortless for Barry to win that race. So why….?

Kara shook her head, annoyed at herself, and that was the moment that Alex struck. Her sister grappled with her for several terse seconds, then threw her to the ground, driving the wind out of her. Kara tried to get back up on her feet, but Alex's arms were wrapped around her throat, and her legs pinned Kara down.

"Ugh…I yield." Kara got out. Her sister grunted and moved off of her, letting Kara rise. She rubbed her throat slightly and gave her sister a look. "That was harder than it needed to be."

Alex shrugged and moved over to a panel on the wall. "Yeah, but of the two of us, you heal quicker. I think I can afford it." To prove her point, Alex turned the panel's dial, and the subtle green glow that pervaded the room faded. Kara sighed with relief as all of her powers rose to the surface and all of the aches and pain she'd accumulated over the course of their fight began healing.

"If we fought now, I had a feeling I would come out on top." Kara grinned at her sister, cracking her knuckles to appear menacing.

Alex did not seem impressed. "If we fought with you using powers, I would have full authorization to use Decide. And we both _know_ how that one would end."

Kara didn't give her sister any signal of it, but she agreed. Three months ago, it had looked like J'onn had been mulling over whether or not to give up the DEO's Kryptonite for safekeeping, but that time had passed. Perhaps if something had occurred to give a little extra push, then he would've done so, but no such thing had occurred.

And when Winn had found out that Alex had a Kryptonite sword, he had insisted that Alex give it a name. All great weapons, he had said, deserved some sort of name. Alex, eager to get the man off her back about it, elected to call it Decide, in remembrance of the moment where she had decided to free herself from Non's control.

Kara had also, through unintentional eavesdropping, discovered that a few of the DEO agents had dubbed the sword 'Deicide' instead. Deicide, the act of killing a god.

…Well, now her thoughts were in a dark place, and it apparently showed on her face, and Alex threw an arm around her shoulder and steered her out of the training room.

"Don't worry about it, you're getting better every day." Alex reassured her. "I'm sure you'll be able to kick my ass someday. I'll make you work for it, of course, but someday." She hesitated for a moment. "Maybe a few decades. You know, when I'm in a wheelchair or something."

Kara laughed at Alex's attempt to cheer her up as the two walked through the halls of the DEO, various agents stopping to greet or salute them. "I'll get you one of these days." She warned. Then her voice took on a teasing edge of its own. "Or maybe I'll just get you back some other way."

Alex's arm instantly tensed around Kara's shoulders, but she had nothing to fear now that her powers were back. "In what way would you get me back, Kara?" Alex said calmly.

"Oh, it just occurs to me that I don't _have_ to get Winn and Barry out of the training are early every Friday. We could always stick around and check in on one of those private sparring sessions you and Artemis always have."

Alex Danvers did not blush. Kara suspected she had done some bio-engineering thing to ensure that she didn't. However, the tips of her ears did seem to be getting warmer, and Kara could hear the other woman's heart beating quicker.

Kara grinned victoriously. She had searched for years to find a way to tease her sister the way her sister teased her. Who gave a shit if Alex was a lesbian, _she finally found a way to tease Alex Danvers and get away with it._ It almost made their brutal training sessions with Artemis worth it.

Almost.

However, Alex Danvers was not top of the DEO's "People Not To Screw With" for a reason. "Or maybe," Alex mused aloud, her voice taking a lilting tone, "I tell a certain speedster to check the top left drawer on your dresser. I'm sure he'd find all sorts of interesting things there."

Kara gaped, and stepped out from under her sister's arm to give her a searching look. "You wouldn't."

Alex gave her sister a steady look, without a hint of a smirk or smile. "Try me."

Kara gave her sister a dazzling smile. "Well, it looks like I'll be off then. Have to turn in an article to Snapper, stop by and say hi to James and then get ready for my _platonic_ musical viewing with Barry, who understands that there's certain things he doesn't need to know."

Alex snorted, and waved goodbye. "Remember: blue is your color."

"I only wear blue for actual dates." Kara reminded her compulsively.

Alex rolled her eyes so far back that for a moment Kara was concerned they might slip into the back of her skull and never return. "…That's the point, dummy.."

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"How are things coming, Ms. Robbins?"

"Excellently, ma'am." Rita replied stiffly, not moving her eyes away from her computer. She didn't see any point in looking at Lillian Luthor; while one would normally do so out of politeness when another person was talking, neither Rita nor Lillian were ones to observe such normal customs.

The older woman leaned over Rita's shoulder and eyes the workings on the screen with interest, and Rita simply continued to review the information herself, not slowing down for her employer's benefit. She knew some of the others, even the most damaged and warped, tried to avoid being close to Lillian, like she would suck the soul out of them if she got too close.

Fortunately for Rita, she had nothing to fear about losing something already lost.

She had initially been somewhat reluctant to work for Lillian. Knowing that she would be killed if she refused to help didn't really add any incentives or detractions for her. So, she'd been kept around just in case they'd needed any live humans to experiment on, which was expected to be plenty, given what they were attempting.

And then came Gotham. Lillian's people in the DEO had reported to Lillian that the Flash and Supergirl had been in the city; that they had interviewed Wayne, interrogated him about his weapons, basically tried to blackmail him.

And then they left. Oh, there were reasons cited, but Rita hadn't cared to listen to them. The Flash had sworn that he would get Wayne for her and had even gotten a taped confession out of the man, and he proceeded to do _nothing._

The man was a waste, and absolute disgrace. The speed was the least of it; being able to study his healing alone would've pushed technology forward centuries. But instead, he used it to play hero. And he couldn't even do that right.

So Rita had thrown herself into Cadmus's most advanced projects, quickly becoming the lead scientist for the Particle Accelerator Project.

It had been Rita's idea to comb through Indigo's memories to see if the alien had any clues on how to build a particle accelerator quicker and more effectively.

It had been Rita's idea to move the construction to an abandoned Luthor property where no one would bother them, just outside National City.

It had been Rita's idea to draw from National City's pool of disaffected scientists to privately help build the accelerator.

Rita's ideas just continued to advance their projects, quickly surpassing every other scientist present, until Cadmus was just as much Rita's as it was Lillian's. Not that she particularly cared either way. Cadmus was a means to an end for her, an end that she would race to by any means necessary, even if it meant neglecting a few safety regulations here and there.

Any potential harm that Cadmus could do would be outweighed by Rita's own actions, because when the particle accelerator started to give people powers, she would be first in line.

She would be a hero.

And unlike the Flash, she would do it _right._

"This is very impressive work, Ms. Robbins." Lillian Luthor's praise was said with the same inflection one might use when ordering lunch. "We will likely be far ahead of schedule if what this tells me is correct. When do you estimate we will be ready for activation?"

If one implemented all possible safety regulations, five more weeks. Five more weeks, and the chances some accident happening was less than a fraction of a percent, thanks to the information pulled from Indigo's corpse. In those five weeks, hundreds of people would die from violent crime all across the nation. Thousands would die of disease.

"Tonight." Rita answered smoothly. Lies tended to come more easily than truths these days. "It will be ready for activation by tonight."

And if Lillian Luthor suspected that her assistant was lying…she didn't say anything.

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Barry and Kara's apartment had changed a lot in the three months since the interdimensional traveler moved in. Much of the space had to be rearranged so that Barry's bed wasn't smack dab in the middle of the kitchen, but that was easily done when one of the residents had super strength. Of course, the sound of furniture banging on the ground had given quite the wrong impression to several neighbors.

There was a clear separation between Kara and Barry's sections of the apartment, mainly due to the constant clutter that littered the floor that suddenly disappeared once it left Barry's area. Kara wasn't sure how someone who regularly applied super speed to mundane activities couldn't find the time to clean up a little bit, despite regularly asking.

There were also smaller, less noticeable details in their shared areas. If any of Barry's friends from Earth-1 could have seen it, they might not have thought that Barry had not lived there. Iris would have said that the windows let in too much light, because Barry preferred to sleep in. Joe would've said that there wasn't nearly enough nerd memorabilia decorating the walls, collected from places that Barry had investigated the supernatural.

Similarly, Winn and Alex occasionally would look around and notice that things were different. Barry often tinkered with things in his spare time, and small signs of wear and tear among Kara's furniture and technology had been smoothed away. Kara's artwork, which she normally kept regulated to certain corners and family events were displayed prominently. At some point Barry had stumbled on a box of them and convinced Kara to actually hang them up.

Of course, not all of that was visible at the moment, given the whirlwind of movement currently sweeping across the apartment. Both Kara and Barry had many gifts, but timing was not one of them, even for people with superspeed.

Barry skidded to a halt in the kitchen, dressed in a dark suit with a red tie that Winn had insisted he wear. He would've been able to get ready much sooner, but he was worried that his suit might catch on fire, and that would only lead to more delays. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and noted that their Uber driver was texting them impatiently.

"Come on, Kara, you were the one who insisted we change at the apartment." Barry called, hearing Kara still getting ready on the other side of the apartment's division.

"We could've flown right there if you weren't scared of heights." Kara called back into the kitchen.

"I'm not scared of heights, it's just the crazy way…you…fly…"

Shit. Barry had thought he was _done_ with having embarrassing reactions Kara's presence after having seen her wear most of the outfits in her closet, but clearly, he was not as done as he thought.

Kara was wearing a beautiful strapless dress that dropped down to her knees and left her arms bare. It wasn't particularly tight, and it wasn't particularly glamorous, but Barry had to force himself to move his eyes away, aided by a brief pull of the Speed Force to literally give his system a jolt.

She didn't look at him, still affixing delicate silver earrings to her lobes as she walked into the kitchen. For a brief moment, Barry's training from romantic comedies kicked in and he half-expected her to ask him to zip up her dress or something.

"Something wrong? You seem a bit distracted." Kara asked, finally getting the jewelry in and looking at him in concern.

"Yes," Barry said quickly, "You're fine. I mean, I am. Fine, that is. In good health." Barry swallowed hard and prayed that Kara's obliviousness to being hit on would extend to not catching his little Freudian slip.

"Oh. Well that's good to hear." Kara seemed slightly off put, but still smiled at him, and to his irritation, his heart beat a bit faster. "Let's get going, then."

The two superheroes quickly made their way to the elevator and downstairs, occasionally accompanied by buzzes from Barry's phone from their driver. "This is not shaping up to be five-star behavior." He grumbled slightly.

"To be fair, we've kept him waiting for almost ten minutes." Kara pointed out. "You overestimated both of us. We weren't even at the apartment when you called for him."

"Point." Barry conceded. They walked through the double doors and Barry spotted the car, heading towards it. It took him a moment to realize Kara was lagging behind slightly, and one hand was busy fidgeting with her glasses.

"Kara? Something bothering you?" He asked, dropping behind slightly as well.

"Not really." Kara quickly said. "It's just…you think this dress is okay? _Le Gavroche_ is pretty fancy."

Several things to say passed through Barry's mind, many of which included denials that he had been staring at it all through their descent downstairs, but he managed to hold those back.

"It's great, Kara, don't worry about it." He settled on. He gave her a smile as they finally got to their driver. "Besides, you always look good in blue."

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 _Le Gavroche_ was a very fancy restaurant that was a rip-off of a much fancier restaurant somewhere in London. It had glass chandeliers that reflected the soft lighting and which then in turn was reflected by the perfectly shined silverware and the expensive accoutrements that littered the establishment. It boasted more proposals in a week than most restaurants in National City had in a year.

It was not a place that Kara normally would eat. It also wasn't a place where Barry would normally eat, for that matter. Of course, they had their reasons: it was within walking distance of the theater and didn't have the small serving sizes of most fancy restaurants.

And also…no, yeah, that was about it.

They were escorted to a small table in the corner by a man that looked like John Cleese in a tuxedo. Barry stared at the man with disbelief until Kara nudged him a tad forcefully, by which she meant that Barry's ribs might've suffered a few cracks.

"Is there a story there?" Kara asked. "Is John Cleese some sort of supervillain on your Earth?" She teased.

Barry snorted. "No, it's not much of a story. I just have a friend who has a servant named Jeeves, he looks like John Cleese too."

"Is it Oliver? He's the only of your friends I can imagine having a servant." Kara admitted. The speedster had talked about his archer friend so much that Kara basically knew him by association.

"Nah, just someone I met a while ago. Name's Bob." Barry said evasively. "Kind of a weird guy, but he gave me some good advice."

"I have a feeling a lot of your friends fall under the category of 'weird'." Kara needled him. "Like attracts like, after all."

Barry smiled at her and took a sip of his drink. She expected some sort of comeback for her remark but didn't get one. "It certainly does." He said agreed. "I guess that's why we get along so well."

The moment was ruined when Barry finally made him comeback. "…And after all, you're one of the weirdest people I've ever met."

She rolled her eyes at the man. "You sure are a charmer, Barry Allen." She said sarcastically. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Only the ones that wake me up at two in the morning to watch Star Trek re-runs and complain about inaccuracies."

"Hey, I listen to you complain about how lightsabers wouldn't be feasible weapons, you listen to my complaints about Star Trek. That was the deal."

"I want a refund."

"That's not how deals work on this Earth, Barry, that's how purchases work."

"Well then why did I get a receipt?"

Kara was so caught up in their regular back-and-forth that when their waiter returned she was briefly caught off guard, and in that moment, she slipped slightly on the blocks that kept her senses within human limits. Snatches of conversations around her filled her ears.

"-swear to god, my mother doesn't need to know-"

"-think I saw Keith spit in the lamp chops. Again. Should we-"

"-disguise is ridiculous, Max. If you're so worried about-"

Kara regained a hold on herself and immediately caught Barry's eye with a serious look. "Someone here is disguising themselves for some reason." She said without preamble.

She could see Barry tense ever so slightly. "Do you think someone is spying on us?"

"It certainly wouldn't be out of line for our lives for this to happen…" Kara muttered. There went their plans for a fun evening. "I'll check it out."

Without turning her head, Kara let her senses reach out, and quickly homed in on the voice she heard earlier. She would've preferred to actually look, but that might've given her away.

"-can't exactly show up looking like my normal handsome self, now can I? You said you wanted to keep this under wraps. No reporters hounding us, no bias from the scientific community."

Kara frowned. No, she was looking for a female voice, why would she be hearing…?

"That may be true, but you know how much I hate it when you wear the beard, Max."

Kara couldn't help herself. She whipped her head around and saw Maxwell Lord, wearing a somewhat unconvincing bushy beard, scratching the aforementioned facial hair with one hand as he grinned at the woman across from him, a pretty brunette.

"I like the beard." Maxwell Lord _pouted_. An actual childish pout, not a smirk or a sneer or a leer, an honest to Rao _pout._

"Oh my god." Kara turned her head back to Barry, who was staring in Lord's direction as well, except his eyes were fixed on the pretty brunette. Despite his intense gaze, Kara didn't feel the twinge of jealousy she expected. Probably because Barry did not look happy to see the woman in the least.

"We at least could've gone somewhere that serves Chinese food." Kara heard the woman grumble. "But noooo, you refuse to go anywhere that doesn't have platinum plated silverware." Despite her complaints, Kara could hear the teasing edge her words had taken on.

"Pamela, if you want I will rip this beard off and can promise you they will find a way to cook you up some Chinese food." Lord promised.

The woman, Pamela, snorted, and a couple near to them glared at her for the undignified sound. Kara could hear the skin of her face moving as she smiled. "No. We barely have enough time together as it is without reporters hounded us at every opportunity. However, I am telling you right now that I am not going to kiss a man with a beard like that."

"And just like that, the beard is gone forever." Lord quipped. Kara heard him pick up his glass as the wine sloshed within. "To us."

"To us."

Barry leaned over the table as the couple clinked their glasses together. "Is it just me, or does that guy kind of look like…what's his name? That smug guy who wanted to set off the Kryptonite bomb."

"Maxwell Lord." Kara supplied absently. Then his words caught up with her and she turned her head back to Barry. "Wait, you forgot his name? How could you forget his name?"

Barry scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I mean, he's smart and ruthless, but there's like a dozen people we've run into since that are both of those things too. He hasn't really done anything since the Myriad Crises."

Kara heard Lord make some joke that made Pamela laugh through her sip of wine. "I guess now we know why."

The speedster shrugged as their server brought them their wine. Neither had brought any of the alien liquor that Lar was inexplicably able to obtain despite J'onn's efforts, wanting to be lucid enough to enjoy the play. As such, their wine was simply the cheapest ones on the list. "Good for him." Barry said, his voice subdued. "Everyone deserves someone."

And for a brief moment, Kara didn't think that he was talking about Iris West.

They clinked their glasses together and took long sips, each immersed in their own thoughts.

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Two whole minutes, Iris thought numbly. Barry had been missing for two whole minutes. Or rather, that was how long it had been since Barry's symbol on their map of the city had blinked out of existence, since the coms began reporting nothing but static.

Part of her noted with morbid amusement that even now, blessed with superspeed, Barry couldn't avoid being late. A hysteric laugh almost bubbled up in her throat, but she pushed it down. Laughing wouldn't help, and neither would crying for that matter.

Not that she could do much of anything, she noted clinically. Cisco had flown into action, pinging nearby satellites in case Barry somehow overshot and ended up out of range while Caitlin reviewed the records of Barry's physical state leading up to the disappearance, just in case she could find some clue that he had travelled back in time or something.

Genius minds were at work.

And Iris stood in the same place where she was standing when Barry had disappeared.

Iris West had felt helpless before. It was hard not to, given the crazy world that she was a part of as a member of Team Flash. But there was normally some explanation, something she could figure out. Something she could _do._

"Uh, you guys…" Cisco said hesitantly. "I think I found...something." His tone clearly implied that he hoped what he found was nothing. He hit a button, and the sound of rushing wind filled the Cortex.

" _Guys, I can go faster."_ Barry's voice, jubilant with his newfound speed, sounded. The wind picked up, and then a sudden, familiar noise filled the room before static cut in.

Iris's stomach dropped out as the static seemed to worm its way into her brain, destroying all of her thoughts.

"That was a breach." Her mouth said.

Team Flash exchanged grim looks. One of two things had happened. Either Barry had somehow figured out how to open breaches…

Or Zoom had.

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"Wow." Barry said. "Wow."

"You've only said that eleven times since we left. Want to make it an even dozen?" Kara teased.

"Yes, yes I do….Wow."

Kara rolled her eyes at the speedster. "I liked it too. I especially liked that they acknowledged all of the things that Eliza did to keep his legacy alive."

Barry made a noise of agreement, and the two separated briefly as someone rushed by, chattering on their phone and seemingly oblivious to his location. Kara fell back into step next to Barry and the two continued at a slow, meandering pace.

After dinner and the play, they couldn't find an Uber or taxi that wasn't jacking up their prices due to the play and decided to walk until they could find one. A little walking wouldn't exhaust them, after all.

"I'm just glad that there weren't any major differences." Barry admitted. "It's pretty popular on my Earth too but given the different histories I was afraid that he would end up killing Burr or something."

"Maybe you'll get a chance to see it in your dimension and compare versions." Kara suggested.

Barry snorted. "I wouldn't count on that. I had to hop dimensions and end up with a superhero roommate with a grumpy yet generous boss just to see it _once_. That sort of thing probably won't happen twice."

"Generous might be stretching it." Kara warned. "It's more like a jab. Snapper thinks that it's the 'ultimate in millennial arrogance' to rewrite history as a hip-hop rap musical." Kara said dryly. She waved a hand dismissively. "Old people, am I right?"

Kara caught a brief grin on Barry's face that was suddenly smoothed away. "Well, that depends," He said calmly, "How old is Snapper?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at the speedster, who kept his face carefully blank. "I think that he's…52?" She guessed.

"Well, considering that you're fifty-two, that would make you an old person too, right?" Barry said, not being able to contain his smile.

Kara stopped walking entirely, and just stared at Barry, who lost his internal battle with keeping back his grin. "Barry," She said slowly, "I don't know how years tend to work on _your_ Earth, but I'm 27 and not a minute older."

"Well, biologically I guess you're right. But you spent 24 years in the Phantom Zone, so chronologically…" Barry spread his hands with a frank look on his face, "You're 52."

Kara wondered how long he had been waiting for a proper set up for that joke. Luckily…she had anticipated this. It had only been a matter of time before Barry brought it up. A similar grin slithered its way onto her face, and Barry's smile dropped.

Kara squinted her eyes and hunched herself over. She raised a finger and shook it at him. "You'd better respect your elders, sonny." She wheezed dramatically. "Or I'll have to bend you over my knee and teach you a lesson."

Barry's jaw basically unhinged completely as he stared at Kara. "Did…did you just threaten to _spank_ me?" He got out.

"Back in my day," Kara continued, ignoring his question. "Children knew not to bring up someone's age to someone who can fire lasers from their eyes. _Especially_ when that person knows where they live. Where they sleep. Where they keep their romance books they don't want anybody to know about."

Barry gave a snort that turned into laughter, and Kara managed to hold out for a few seconds before she joined him. A few people on the street eyed them with amusement as they passed by.

"Couldn't just let me have that one?" Barry asked, coming down off of his laughter.

"Absolutely not." Kara denied. "You should know better than to bring up a woman's age."

"Point." Barry conceded. "But you have to admit it's not everyday I get the opportunity to tease someone who's…what would be the term?"

"Temporaly displaced?"

"Yeah, that's good. Temporally displaced."

"Welllll," Kara drew out, "If you get to make jokes about my temporal displacement, I get to make jokes about the fact that you 'flashed' J'onn."

"And just like that, the age jokes are gone forever." Barry said quickly.

The similar wording to how Max had joked with Pamela threw Kara for a moment. What did it say that they were hitting the same relationship beats as an apparently committed couple?

"Kara? You okay?" Barry asked. Kara realized that she had been silent for longer than she had thought.

"No, no, I'm good. I was just…thinking about the play." Kara deflected. "I really liked the choreography."

Contrary to her expectations to agreement, Barry grimaced. "I don't know." He hedged. "It was good, but I've seen better."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Where?" A wind blew down the street, and Barry shivered. Kara smirked; the speedster was a lot of things, but able to bear the cold was not one of them.

"Back in c-college." Barry got out. "They had a local dancing trope that taught classes for the students. They were all really good."

Something in his tone caught Kara's attention. It was something that she heard occasionally when she was interviewing someone who was holding something back. A grin began to work its way onto her face. "Wait a minute… Barry Allen, did you take dancing classes?"

"What?" Barry defended. "No. No, I was doing badass science stuff. You know, getting ready to be a CSI. No time for tap dancing or anything."

Kara's grin began to hurt her cheeks. "I didn't say anything about tap dancing."

Barry let out a long groan and rubbed his face with one of his hands. "It's amazing I can keep my secret identity secret at all…" He muttered to himself.

Kara shoved Barry with as little strength as possible and he staggered to the side. "I can't believe that you can dance, and you haven't mentioned it!" Kara accused.

Barry recovered his balance. "Well it's not like I can do it in our apartment," He grumbled, "And for some reason tap dancing never came up during one of Artemis's training sessions."

"Soooo, what I'm hearing is that if I find a place for you to show off, you will?"

For the first time that Kara could recall, Barry looked at Kara with fear in his eyes. That was especially telling after all the times that she had shot him with lasers during training. "Why do I feel like that's not really a question?"

"Because it's not!" Kara said cheerily. She began pulling on his arm, and he had no choice but to follow. "Come on, I know a place."

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Patience, it was said, was a virtue. As such, Klarion the Witch Boy wasn't very patient. Not at all, really. He had suffered immensely from boredom for a few decades until he had figured out how to view other dimensions at will, something that was previously so easy to him with his powers. Unfortunately, it required him to synch up his little personal bubble to the dimension he wanted to see, and view it in real time.

Klarion gnashed his teeth as he watched one of the countless iterations of Supergirl and the Flash tease one another. Of course, there was a reason that he was observing _this_ one. This was the version of the Flash that he had _finally_ managed to trick into his little bubble. Most other versions either heard his call in their dreams but didn't breach, or they were too skilled at breaching and didn't fall into his little bubble.

And now that he had finally got one and given him the motivation and time to improve his connection to the Speed Force, here he was just pissing time away by flirting with the Kryptonian girl!

"Gahhhhh!" Klarion thrashed around in empty space and lashed out with a lance of red energy that just passed through the orb that he was using to view Earth 38.

Barry Allens were frustrating for exactly this reason. As much as Klarion _loved_ chaos, he did not like the unpredictable nature of the speedster. When drawing on Bob's verbal skills, he should have instilled in Barry the drive to draw on more of the Speed Force than he'd ever had the opportunity to do. And sure, he was doing that, but he was taking up too much time just…relaxing with his friends!

Klarion's face twitched as he tried to calm himself down. Destructive raging was all well and good, but it wouldn't get him what he needed. He had tried to instill Barry with the drive to use the time dilation purely to train, but he was being distracted. He was being too drawn into Earth-38's conflicts by Supergirl. He needed to get the Flash away from her.

He grit his teeth and began to peruse through the various souls that were asleep throughout Earth-38. Regular humans were far more susceptible to his dream invasions, but tended to be far less useful, especially in Earth-38 where there were barely any meta-humans and a total lack of magic.

"…Well, hello there." Klarion muttered to himself, a smile curling his mouth.

Someone was sleeping on the job in a building near National City, and Klarion quickly ripped into his mind, giving no care for his psyche. Apparently, they were actually trying to replicate Earth-1's particle accelerator explosion, though they were apparently under the impression that it would only create speedsters.

Idiots.

Still, there was something that Klarion could do with that. Borrowing the knowledge of all the humans he had possessed over the centuries, Klarion rewrote some of the man's knowledge base. The particular accelerator was going to blow up anyway, but there was a specific way that Klarion needed it to release that dark matter.

Klarion jolted the man awake and withdrew himself from his mind, sending the man to robotically carry out his suddenly assigned task. He then pulled his focus back to the Flash, who was walking with Supergirl to whatever stupid distraction they were on their way to. Klarion rubbed his hands together.

Should he say something menacing? He felt like he should say something menacing. How about…

"Enjoy your time together, Barry." He whispered, "While you still have it…"

Oh yeah, that was good.

He should really steal someone else's soul at some point so that someone could be around to hear him say cool shit.

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"Wow, that is a long way down." Barry peered over the edge of CatCo until he had to back up, feeling slightly ill. Even though he knew that he could survive the fall, being manhandled by J'onn and Superman had given him a healthy respect for heights.

"Yup. You know, this was the first place I revealed my identity as Supergirl to someone." Kara said conversationally. The wind on top of the roof tugged at her hair and at the hem of her dress, but she seemed unbothered.

"I bet that went over really well." Barry said, remembering all the times he had revealed his identity to someone. It was rarely pleasant but always interesting.

"Mhm. Winn didn't believe me, though I was coming out to him." Kara said. "I had to jump off of the roof and fly back up just to convince him."

"The flying is pretty convincing as far as proof goes." Barry admitted. "Freaked me out the first time I saw it. Thought you might be related to one of my rouges gallery. Speaking of which, have I ever mentioned-"

Kara stuck a finger dangerously close to his face and gave him a warning look. "Don't try distracting me, Flash. We came up here for a reason and its not so that we can admire the city."

"The city does look beautiful tonight." Barry tried weakly.

It didn't work. Kara fiddled with her phone for a moment, and a old-timey, catchy tune began to spill across the rooftop. Kara gave him an expectant look and made a gesture for him to start.

"This better not end up on the internet." Barry warned.

"~No promises~." Kara sang.

Staunchly refusing to blush or show any sign of embarrassment, Barry went into a routine that he hadn't practiced for over seven years. The first few steps were unsure and awkward, but Kara didn't call him on them, just waiting with a grin. Slowly, his moves came back to him, and he was able to forget that he was on a freezing rooftop in front of a girl he wanted to impress.

As such, it took a moment for him to realize he wasn't the only one dancing. Kara had kicked off her shoes and was tap dancing right alongside him. A wide grin spread across his face.

"I can't believe that you can dance, and you haven't mentioned it!" He echoed back to her, putting his feet in sync with hers. To any outside observer it would probably be clear that they were uncoordinated, but that didn't matter. Neither of their dancing was exactly _good,_ but at a certain point they stopped caring.

It was just the two of them on the rooftop, and for just a moment, it was just the two of them in the world.

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"Winn? What're you doing?"

Let it be known that Winslow Schott did not 'yelp'. He made a manly noise of surprise that just so happened to be somewhere within a soprano range. With a few deft key strokes, various charts and important work-related websites were pulled up.

"Nothing," Winn said casually, "Just chilling. I mean, working. I was working."

Alex gave him a flat look, and Winn met her stare evenly.

He could handle this.

He could handle this.

He could handle-

" _He was spying on Mr. Allen and Ms. Danvers ."_ A helpful voice supplied in a British accent.

Winn glared at the speaker and camera mounted on his desk. "Gideon, you traitor! How dare you betray me in this way?" He protested.

" _One of my directives is to keep you safe, Mr. Schott. The best way to ensure that is to make sure that you answer the older Ms. Danvers's questions quickly and promptly."_ The AI replied.

Winn grumbled something about 'stupid robots' under his breath, but privately he was elated. About two and a half months ago, when Barry had been telling them about his dimension, he had casually mentioned that in the future he had apparently crafted an AI named Gideon that somehow had ended up in the hands of one of his greatest rivals.

Winn had immediately demanded to know whether he had made any progress on that front, only for Barry to sheepishly tell him that he hadn't even tried.

He had been outraged. To know that you had the potential to create an AI and then not pursue it? Barry had weathered all of his disappointed ramblings for about ten minutes before proposing that they work on it together.

Winn, of course, agreed.

It had only been a few weeks since Gideon had properly come online, after well over two dozen failed attempts that had either flat out not worked or hacked into the DEOs mainframe with dreams of taking over the world.

Luckily the would-be-conqueror AI turned out to be bribable.

Which brought him to Gideon 5.20, who actually seemed to both care for her creators and have a sense of humor. She was revolutionary.

Alex snapped her fingers in front of his nose and he jerked back. "What?" he asked in irritation.

"Oh, well you were just about to spill your guts to me." Alex reminded him helpfully.

"Oh, yeah. That." Winn mumbled. He sighed and pulled up the feed he had been using and pointed it out to Alex.

"Are they…Are they tap dancing on a rooftop?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"Mhm. They've been flirting all night, and I thought maybe they'd finally have a sit down and a serious talk about their relationship, but nope! Dance off instead."

Alex made a noise of agreement, not taking her eyes off of the feed. Winn had to admit, their moves weren't bad. He was definitely recording this to use as blackmail in the future, but still. Not bad. "Kara won't make a move unless she knows for sure that someone is interested in her." She mused aloud. "And Barry doesn't seem like the type to make the first move."

Winn nodded sagely. "An object at rest will stay at rest." He quoted.

" _It is my understanding that that quote applies to physics, not relationships."_ Gideon pointed out.

"In this case, it means that since they're not put into a situation where they _have_ to do something about their feelings, they probably won't." Winn explained. A thought occurred to him. "Oh! We could have them go undercover as a married couple, then they'd have to act all romantic with each other!"

"J'onn would never sanction a mission like that." Alex cut in flatly. Winn deflated slightly. He really wanted his friends to just finally spit it out! They'd be so much happier for it!

….Plus he had ten dollars riding on it.

" _If I may suggest something, I believe I have something that can set the mood properly."_ Gideon suggested, a burr of hesitation in her synthetic voice.

Alex and Winn exchanged curious looks, then shrugged. "Go ahead." Winn said.

The computer briefly froze up as Gideon took control, and Winn could see her taking deeper control of Kara's phone than just audio and video. As he watched, a sudden question occurred to him.

"By the way, why are you here so late? You normally head home earlier." He pointed out.

"Oh. Uh, I was training with Artemis. You know, tactics and stuff. Nothing important." Alex said hastily.

" _It's ready. Commencing Operation: Newton's Law of Relationships."_

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Barry was on the ground, laughing, while Kara stood over him, also laughing. He had attempted to do a particular move that he hadn't even been able to do in college, and it had sent him sprawling on to the hard rooftop. Kara offered him a hand, and he let her pull him up.

Just as Barry came to his feet and there were only a few inches separating the two before Barry stepped back, there was a change in the music. Quick and peppy became slow and smooth, twisting its way through the air around them. Barry found himself unintentionally swaying to the gentle rhythm of the music.

A frown creased Kara's face. "I guess I put it on shuffle or something…" She muttered to herself. She hadn't let go of his hand from pulling him up and she also was swaying with the music.

"Well, as long as it's on…" Barry said through a sudden lump in his throat. "Care to dance?"

Kara's head came up, surprised, but she seemed almost more surprised as her arms wrapped their way around his neck. "Uh, sure." She said, her voice oddly low. Her arms around him were very warm against the cold air.

Barry's hands found her waist, and they began to sway in place. The city lights were beautiful, but Barry found her couldn't look at them at all. His gaze was fixed entirely downwards at the woman in his arms.

Several minutes passed in silence, and Barry made no rush to fill it.

"Hey, Barry?" Kara asked. Her voice seemed softer than normal. Her eyes were very blue against the backdrop of the night.

"Yeah?" Barry's voice seemed to come from a lower place in his chest, and he was very conscious of the fact that his heart was beating faster than it should be. Given their close proximity, there was no way that she wouldn't notice too.

"It's just…Back at the restaurant, you said that everyone deserves someone." Kara took a deep breath and met his eyes squarely. There was steel in those eyes. "I just need to know if you were thinking about Iris West when you said it." There was a faint quaver at the end of her sentence, but her face was resolute.

It took Barry a couple moments to remember who Kara was talking about, to remember the world outside of the rooftop and the music. "Actually…" He said, looking back down at her. "I was thinking of someone else entirely."

Kara tried to arch an eyebrow but couldn't pull it off. "Is that so?" She murmured.

"Yeah. I was actually thinking about one particular moment…I was giving someone some advice and I said…taking it easy is good for a superhero, but bad-"

"-For two people who really like each other." Kara finished. Both of them had stopped swaying, but their hands remained where they were.

Barry swallowed. "And I remember…I didn't take that advice, just after I gave it. And I regret it."

For a moment, Kara and Barry stared at each other, faces only an inch away from each other, their breath intermingling. At the same moment that Barry leaned down, Kara moved up.

Barry closed his eyes and gave in, letting himself be swept away. He was so _aware_ of everything, feeling a tingle of electricity that wasn't generated by his powers buzz from his head to the tips of his toes. They both paused for a brief moment to take a breath, then Kara's lips crashed back onto his own. His nose was smashed, but that thought came from a long ways away, especially considering it was already healing.

Finally, the two broke away from each other, both breathing heavily. Kara's eyes seemed to be a much deeper shade of their normal blue, and something primal stared back at Barry hungrily. He felt like he must look the same.

Kara opened her mouth to say something…

And an explosion ripped through National City.

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James Olson sat at his desk at CatCo, burning the midnight oil, when the walls started to vibrate. He glanced up in confusion, his hand reflexively going towards his watch, when something else caught his attention; the coffee was floating out of his mug.

He barely had the time to yell for people to get down before a wave of dark matter hit him.

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Linda Lee tucked her daughter into bed and kissed her on her forehead as she fell asleep. Linda smiled down at her daughter and snuck out of her room, collapsing on the living room couch. She reflexively turned on the TV and pulled out a container of ice cream she had managed to hide from her daughter. A rumble shook her furniture, and her television fell onto the ground. In the other room, she heard Annabel screaming in terror.

She only made it halfway to her daughter's bedroom before a wave of dark matter hit her.

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Pamela Isley rolled out of bed, awakened by the snoring of the disheveled man laying next to her. She rolled her eyes at Max as he muttered something in his sleep and shifted but couldn't help but smile fondly. In the distance, she heard a muted boom. She looked out the window curiously, and her eyes widened as she saw a wave of orange light expanding from a central point in the distance, and it was closing fast.

She barely had the time to shout to wake Max before a wave of dark matter hit her.

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Charles Vic was asleep on the floor. He had slipped out of his chair and onto the floor while in the middle of reviewing some evidence. He starting stirring as an explosion occurred on the outskirts of the city, slowly coming out of a deep sleep.

He barely had time to open his eyes and come halfway back to consciousness before a wave of dark matter hit him.

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Rita Robbins watched as the systems began overheating with numbness. Well, this wasn't _exactly_ what she had planned, but she could deal with this. As people began screaming and running all around her, she calmly pulled out a small, portable generator she had put together specifically for this task.

According to Indigo's memories, electricity was required for this.

She barely had time to let the current race through her body before a wave of dark matter hit her.

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Ingrained responses made Barry and Kara jump apart and asses the situation. Kara spotted the source of the origin in the distance, the epicenter of the wave of orange light. Almost before she could do anything, the wave passed over her, and she stumbled back as an odd buzzing sensation ripped over her skin.

"That was dark matter." Barry said grimly. "We need to move,"

Kara nodded, already seeing and hearing spots in the city where buildings were crumbling, and fires were starting. She ripped the glasses off her face and tucked them into a pocket in her dress.

"We don't have time to change." Kara warned, already hovering off the ground. "I'll take south, you take north."

Barry nodded, lightning sparking in his eyes. "Fine. Guess rescuing a few people is worth the price of a suit." He grinned at her, and despite the situation Kara felt a smile tug at her mouth in return.

Kara plummeted to the earth, speeding towards the first emergency fast enough that no one could make out anything but a blur. The lack of cape on her back was disorienting, but she would have to do.

She was forced to stop on the way six times because of people falling off balconies due to the shaking, depositing them safely on the ground before they could get a clear look at her. People had to be evacuated from the burning buildings before she could put out the fires, otherwise they'd risk getting hypothermia when she used her freeze breath.

Kara looked around. There were no immediate problems nearby, and the police and fire departments were already mobilizing. She reached out with her senses to detect anything more dangerous. Screaming filled her ears, and she heard a distant crackle of electricity, and a familiar voice filled her ears. "Kara, I could use some help!" Barry called from across the city.

She flew to the sound of his voice immediately and froze in shock in midair upon arrival. In the middle of the street, pulsating and churning, was a breach, the same kind that Barry had disappeared through well over three months ago. It was strong enough that Kara could feel its pull from several stories up, and Barry was zipping back and forth as he dragged people out of its range.

Kara began helping to bring civilians out of the breach's range of influence. "How do we close it?" She shouted at Barry. He didn't respond, and Kara realized that he couldn't hear her over the rushing winds.

The breach pulsed, and doubled in size. The pull increased as well, and groups of people previously safe began to fall towards it. Kara grit her teeth and put as much speed as she could into pulling people away, but it was gaining in strength.

"Supergirl!" Kara heard as she set down one of the last civilians. She turned around and her stomach dropped out. Barry was running almost in place, kept nearly still by the pull of the breach, a young child held in his arms. Kara let the pull take her on a course with her partner, and he shoved the child into her arms, being able to inch forwards without her in his arms.

Kara struggled back to the safe zone from the breach, where people were already pulling back in fear of it increasing. She deposited the child into the arms of a woman she assumed to be her parent, just in time to feel the breach increase in strength, this time infinitesimally.

But it was just enough to make a difference. She turned around to see Barry's feet leaving the ground as he was sucked into the depths of the breach. The lightning that was built up around him began to crackle around the tear in space, and it began to quickly shrink in on itself.

"Barry!" She shouted. She rushed into the breach, just as it closed behind her.

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On a floating city, high in the clouds, a tear in the fabric of space briefly opened, and a man in a fine black suit and red tie was spit out onto the streets below. His clothes smoking, his eyes full of lightning, he landed with enough force to break most of the bones in his body.

Barry Allen groaned as he looked up into the sky above him, seeing the breach wink out of existence.

"God, not again…" He wheezed.

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In a bleak desert with scorched black sand, a rift in space opened and a blonde woman in a blue dress flew out of it, looking around for something frantically. Her search lasted only for a few moments before a beam of light hit her, and her flight came to an abrupt end, and she plummeted to the ground.

Kara Danvers crashed down to the earth, and looked up into the barrel of a gun pointed straight at her face.

Despite the danger of the situation, she sighed. "And the night was going so well, too..." She mumbled.

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**Bwahahahahahaha! Bet none of you expected an update so soon! I can be kind sometimes, though reviews do help (hint hint). It also helps that now both of the new seasons of Flash and Supergirl are on Netflix now, just ripe for providing inspiration. I had to re-write this chapter five times before I was halfway satisfied with it, so I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Just to make something clear, I do not dislike Iris West. In case earlier chapters with Barry didn't make it clear, feeling like you have limited value is something that can happen even if you're extraordinary. These feelings are pivotal to both of their character arcs that I had planned.**

**Kara and Barry move forward in their relationship finally!...A little bit…only to then be hurtled into an alternate dimension. Nothing can ever be easy, can it?**

**Thanks so much for reading and remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW!**


	10. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which dimensional hijinks happen, whether Barry and Kara like it or not.

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_Day 1 on Earth ?_

Dante signaled to his team to stop, and the uniformed men and women paused where they were and holstered their weapons. He reviewed the team; all of them were dressed in dark military fatigues that heled them blend in with the darkened sand and hunks of charred cement that littered the landscape. He also knew from experience that it was hot as all hell.

He knew that, underneath those blank, featureless helmets, his team was staring at him.

Dante hated those stares.

Still, he had a job to do. He flexed his fingers and began move them in complex patterns in front of him.

_We are a mile away from where the distress signal was received. Are you ready?_

Most of his team remained completely silent, but one began to sign back.

_What code was the distress signal?_

Dante hesitated. He had honestly forgotten what the exact distress code had been, but he didn't want to show weakness. Luckily, he had one advantage that the others didn't. With a thought, the information was pulled up on the HUD in his helmet. Quickly reviewing, he signed back, _Code 7, unidentifiable threat, which was cut off hallway through._

No one else signed anything, but he could pick out the reactions. Several people's hands twitched towards their weapons, and he could see others stiffen up, and he knew that their heart rates were already picking up.

Worst of all, he could feel a sudden shift in dynamics. He was nominally the leader of the team, yes, but everyone on this team had far more experience. But if they were going to be facing something who had taken out Squad 18, then they _needed_ him. Needed his…firepower, for lack of a better word.

 _We're moving in,_ Dante signed. He grabbed his weapon and started moving. His feet, wrapped in specifically developed technology, were completely silent, as were the others behind him. Dante pushed a button on the side of his helmet and a faint layering of information covered his HUD, information on his team's health.

Dante was glad that the others couldn't see his heart rate monitor; even after dozens of missions, his hands still shook as they grasped his scythe.

 _Half a mile._ He signed. A few of his team had eyes on the sky, but there was nothing.

 _Quarter mile._ He signed. His scythe began to glow with light in anticipation. His HUD wasn't registering any active heat signatures nearby.

Finally, they reached the destination, and his team spread out into tactical formation the moment they saw the first of their comrades sprawled on the floor. As they advanced, they came upon signs of a struggle, a few guns disassembled, clear signs of injury, but none of them dead.

Dante set his jaw and let his power flow. The blade of his scythe began to glow with an ethereal red light that can and would slice through most anything, and he was ready to use it.

Suddenly, a woman jumped out from behind a blackened concrete, hands held up in the air to demonstrate her lack of weapons. Of course, that didn't mean much, given their world, and his team still raised their weapons.

"Wait! Don't shoot, I'm a good guy. Er, good girl. No, that sounds wrong. I'm a hero!" The woman shouted. Dante flinched back at the sound of her voice, but refocused. She was wearing the same uniform as all of his team, though hers was baggy and ill-fitting, but he didn't recognize her. She had to have gotten it off of one of the members of Squad 18, all of whom were unconscious.

This woman was the threat.

Squad 18 was a team with no mutants on it, but they were among the most effective strike forces around. If this woman was able to take all of them down, then he would need to respond with maximum force.

He stepped forward and swung his scythe at the woman. A rupture of crimson light split the air as it raced towards the woman…who disappeared, letting his attack slam into the concrete behind, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

Wrong. She hadn't disappeared. She was _flying_.

Dante's heart almost stopped, and he came worryingly close to soiling his pants as he stared up at the blonde woman floating in the air above them.

"Look, I don't mean you any harm." She tried again.

At any moment, she could take any of them out. Dante signaled to his team, and they began shooting, soft red light nearly hitting her as she managed to dodge all of the shots almost effortlessly.

 _Maneuver 25,_ Dante signaled. The woman wasn't making any attack, typical arrogance from her kind, and they had to take advantage of it. He also pulled up his emergency contacts and sent out a distress signal. They just needed time.

Dante's attacks were strong, but aiming was difficult under the best of times. His team laid down fire that she dodged with the same ease, but put her exactly into the spot he needed. With a roar of exertion, a swath of energy was sent directly at the blonde.

Once again, she disappeared, and reappeared on the ground with a frown on her face. "Look, I'd rather not, but I will resort to violence if you keep shooting at me." She warned. "And it won't be pretty."

Dante had never heard of this strategy, but he could figure out how it worked. If they actually laid down their arms, then she would butcher them. _Give her hell,_ he signaled. _He's on his way._

One of his teammates lobbed a special grenade at the woman, and she flew up out of the range. "Well, time to resort to violence." She sighed.

Then the grenade went off. Red sun grenades were a precious resource; they had a larger area of effect than their red sun guns, but it required one to build a disposable light generator (which was apparently a pain in the ass to do as his superiors lectured him) and then it was destroyed using it.

In this case though, it was just what they needed. The woman had been able to dodge their red sun guns, but not the red sun grenade. The woman fell to the earth, where she kicked up a plume of dark sand.

 _Move! The effect won't last forever._ Dante signaled. His team surrounded the woman, who made her way to her feet somewhat unsteadily, eyeing their weapons warily, especially Dante's glowing scythe.

"You know," She said conversationally, "This is the second time today that I've had guns pointed in my face. It didn't work out so well for your friends, now did it?"

Dante could see several of his teammates tense up even more, and he anticipated their question by signaling an affirmation. All at once, the squad fired, and red light slammed into their enemy. The light wasn't substantial, not enough to harm, but it would still keep her powers at bay for a bit longer.

The woman huffed, and crossed her arms. She met Dante's gaze beneath his helmet and gave him a dazzling smile. Dante almost reflexively smiled back, and then internally chastised himself. He couldn't get distracted, not-

The woman was moving. Closing the distance within a few steps, her hand caught him right in the throat, where the protection of his armor or his helmet didn't extend.

He reeled back, instinctively letting go of his scythe as his hands went to his throat. He heard the faint buzz of his teammate's guns powering up as they took aim at the woman, but she ducked behind him, and kicked out at his knee, robbing him of his balance.

The woman's arm came around his throat and kept him off balance and just on the edge of choking. "Rao, Artemis will never let me hear the end of this if she hears I actually used her moves…" He heard her mutter to herself.

His teammates didn't fire; he was too valuable an asset to be injured trying to take down one opponent. They were at a stalemate.

Dante kept his eyes focused on the internal timer in his helmet. Only a minute more, and he would be there…

"Well, look what we have here? It appears the vaunted Human Alliance has some internal strife."

If it were possible to be more frightened, Dante would have been. He couldn't see whoever was talking, but he recognized the familiar accent at the edges of their words.

A man floated down from the sky, a tight red outfit outlining every grotesquely large muscle covering his frame. A sigil of something that looked vaguely like a twisted sword was displayed proudly on his chest. One from the Military Guild, no doubt. The only thing not covered was his face, which allowed Dante to see the amused smile on his face.

If they weren't screwed before, they certainly were now.

"Human Alliance…?" Dante heard the woman behind him mutter to herself. "Who are you?" She shouted up at the man. Dante could _feel_ her strength returning as her grip around him involuntarily tightened, nearly cutting off his air supply.

The man smiled panderingly, as if she were a small child. "I am Zon In, owner of this sector. My scanner picked up an electrical disturbance in this area, and I find you humans playing in the dirt instead. Sol, I should've just sent a Kelex…"

The woman behind him stiffened, and then dropped Dante onto the ground. He gagged for air as he scrambled to his feet and returned to his team, grabbing his scythe on the way back.

"You're Kryptonian." The woman stated. Dante could see that she wasn't exactly happy about that fact, to his surprise. Was she…some sort of rebel?

Zon In rolled his eyes. "Was it the flying that gave me away? How about the sigil on my chest?" He snorted and looked around with disinterest. He sighed. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to take you all in. Trespassing is a crime after all. Hope you like the Phantom Zone."

"I didn't know that this was owned land." The woman protested. "Look, I'm Kara Zor-El, surely that means something to you?"

There was silence for several seconds, and Dante motioned for his team to slowly pull back. Suddenly, Zon In began cackling, as if he heard something hilarious.

"Wow, you are inventive, I'll give you that, but pretending to be a Kryptonian? There's no house of Zor-El, though you were a bit close. That's one of the dumbest things a human has ever tried on me."

Kara Zor-El crossed her arms and nonchalantly took to the sky, and Zon In stopped laughing. "I'm not human." She pointed out.

"I remain unconvinced, given you humans have an annoying propensity for developing odd powers." Zon In pointed out. Dante felt an odd irritation that a Kryptonian for whom English was a second language had a larger vocabulary than him.

Kara Zor-El's eyes lit up, and twin beams slammed into the dirt below them, the sand burning up as she traced out a familiar symbol; a diamond with an ornate 'S' in the middle of it.

Zon In's eyes widened, and he bowed, something that looked rather odd when one was hovering the air. "My apologies, I…misunderstood your name. I thought you were claiming to be 'Kara', I've never heard the name 'Karazor' before." He said quickly, chuckling nervously. Then his eyes narrowed. "Then these humans must have attacked you." His eyes began to glow, and several of his teammates broke formation to run.

Dante felt pity for them. They should know that one could not outrun a Kryptonian.

"No," Karazor El said firmly. "This was merely…sparring."

Zon In's eyes lit up, and not in a heat vision way this time. "Oh, you must be wanting to join the Military Guild! I assume that no one else in the House of El knows?" He said teasingly.

Dante stared at the Kryptonian man in horror. Was he…flirting?

"…No. I'm trying to keep it a secret from them." Karazor El said. "You know how it is."

Zon In chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't tell. I've heard tell of how…stuffy the House of El can be. To be honest, I was unaware that they had a daughter."

"I don't exactly take after my parents. I'm prefer fighting to anything else." Dante got the niggling feeling that Korazor was just bullshitting, but given that she was the only thing keeping them from the Phantom Zone, so he hoped she was as good at bullshitting as she was at fighting.

"I totally understand. I have to say though, sparring with your human servants….very interesting. Are there any results that you have seen?" He asked eagerly.

Karazor El looked slightly off put, but nodded. "Yes, very promising." She lied. "I apologize for intruding on your territory, I was unaware that we had, uh, crossed the border."

Zon In waved a hand. "Bygones. Again, I apologize, both them and you are dressed in similar style to the Human Alliance. Perhaps wear something different next time you spar? And maybe invite me as well." He smiled charmingly.

Karazor did not look remarkably charmed. "Maybe," She said noncommittally. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go over strategy."

"Of course, of course. Bless the light of Sol." Zon In said.

"Uh, yeah. Bless the light of Sol."

Zon In was gone in a flash of red, and Dante and his team were alone with a Kryptonian who had motivations he couldn't understand.

Karazor El landed on the ground in front of them. "Well, he seemed polite enough." She said aloud, seemingly to herself. "Of course, that's a low bar, given that every other Kryptonian I've met was evil…or related to me…or both. Mainly both."

She looked around expectantly, as if waiting for someone to comment, then caught herself, and began to amble over to Dante's team. "Well, now that I've prevented you from being thrown in the Phantom Zone, are you ready to listen?"

Dante could feel his teammate's eyes on him. He coughed to clear out his throat.

"Yes," he croaked, his voice trembling from disuse. "But why lie to him at all? And why did you attack Squad 18?"

Karazor shrugged, not looking remotely abashed. "I haven't had a lot of good experiences with other Kryptonians. A lot of them have tried to kill me. Besides, I need information about those weapons you used against me. What was that?"

Dante almost gaped at the Kryptonian woman. How…how did she not know? "Red sun guns." He said slowly. His tone quavered slightly, and that shamed him more than anything else. His voice used to be one of his most important assets. Before all this…mutant stuff.

Karazor snapped her fingers, a look of realization on her face. "Right, yellow sun gives me my powers, red sun must take it away. Man, if you hadn't been shooting at me with those, that would be cool. Can't believe I didn't think of that."

"…And attacking our squad?"

"Ah. That." Karazor actually looked embarrassed. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, when I got here they shot me with one of those red sun guns- that's fun to say by the way- and they were being kind of rough with me, and my very expensive dress tore. They weren't too keen on letting me change, so I…took them out."

"Without powers?" One of his teammates asked incredulously. Her voice was a lot stronger than his own.

Karazor gave her a pointed look. "I took down your boss here without powers either." She reminded her.

"Yeah, but he's…never mind."

A lump formed in Dante's throat, but he got past it. It was no secret that his fighting skills weren't much without his power to supplement them. But to have someone say it…

Karazor looked at them with a knowing gaze, which just made Dante feel worse. His grip tightened on his scythe, but he didn't power it up.

This was the first time that he had encountered a friendly Kryptonian, he told himself. More than that, one who actively seemed to distrust other Kryptonians. He had to try and get her on their side.

He held out a hand. "My codename is Ravage, but you can call me Dante."

Karazor reached out and shook his hand. Her grip seemed no tighter than an average human. "Only two names? I've got three. Step up your game, Dante. You can call me Kara."

"Short for Karazor?"

Karazor shook her head, a bemused look on her face. "No, but I suppose some things are different on this Earth. Huh, I guess this is what Barry felt like…"

Dante stared at Kara with disbelief. " _This_ Earth? As in…more than one?"

"Hm? Oh right, multiverse stuff. I need to find a friend of mine, he's the only one who can get me back home. Have you seen him, he's uh, really fast?"

" _Well, that's as good an entrance line as I'll ever get."_ There was a blur of motion, and another figure was standing among them, dressed in a suit of armor similar to Dante's own, but far sleeker, designed with aerodynamics in mind. In the center of his chest was an insignia with a lightning bolt on it.

 _You're late,_ Dante signed at the man reflexively. He and his entire team could've died, and there wasn't much of an excuse for being late when one had super speed.

 _Not late,_ the man signed back. _I was nearby._

Dante gaped, and his scythe reflexively began to glow. _And you didn't help? What if she had decided to attack us instead of lying to the other Kryptonian?_

_I took a risk, and that risk has paid off._

The man stepped forward and put forward his hand, at the same time going to his helmet. It dissolved, receding into his helmet, revealing a handsome, smiling face. "My name is Bartholomew Allen , but you can call me Blur. If you want to come with us, we'll help you find your friend."

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_Day 1 on Earth ?_

Barry Allen was _sick_ and _tired_ of getting his bones broken. It had almost never happened before he became the Flash, though he certainly had gotten his butt kicked on his quests to investigate the extraordinary. But since he had become the Flash, he had broken nearly every bone in his body at least once.

As he laid on the ground, he mentally bemoaned the fact that he was effectively immune to pain killers.

And that apparently, the people on this Earth were complete and utter jerks. He could hear all of the people around him, but no one was calling for help or even attempting to help him. Considering that he was in the middle of the street, people couldn't have _not seen him_ , so that was particularly damning.

He tried to move, only for his body to scream at him in protest. His shattered bones stabbed at the insides of his muscles. He grit his teeth and began to vibrate, pulling on the Speed Force to heal him faster than even before.

A scream leaked past his lips as he was forced to stop. Embedded in the ground as he was, he didn't have much room to move, and trying to vibrate was too painful. Unfortunately, even failing at healing took a huge toll on his energy. A headache began to pound at his temples, but he continued to vibrate, forcing himself to heal.

By the time Barry could climb out of his little hole, the world was swimming in front of him and dark edges threatened his vision. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily. There was someone in front of him making odd hand signs, and he struggled to get the words out.

"Yeah? Sorry, I'm a little…in pain."

The person reeled back, as if surprised, and his hands started making signs again until he stopped midway.

"Sir, do you need me to contact someone?" The man's words were oddly strained, as if he were unused to speaking, and his words had a somewhat familiar burr to them that Barry couldn't place.

"Uh, no. I'm good, thanks. Actually… What city am I in? And, uh, _when_ am I?" There really wasn't a point in pretending this was a normal situation after all, he had just been spat out of a hole in the sky.

The man's eyes widened. "Oh, you must be one of the Science Guild's newest experiments! How exciting, I didn't know they were trying time travel." He said enthusiastically.

"Yes, it's fascinating, but could you actually _answer my questions?"_ Barry bit out, his temper slightly thin due the whole 'being on the verge of unconsciousness'.

The man colored slightly. "Oh, sorry. You're in Mal Sota, and the year is 205 A.C."

Mal Sota. Something about those words tickled his brain, but he couldn't make the connection, not in his current state. And A.C wasn't something he had heard of before.

"So, when did you come from?" The man asked eagerly. The world swayed as Barry rose to his feet, and the man rushed to help steady him. He was a short man, with vibrant orange hair and a rash of freckles across his face.

"Sorry, that's private information. Don't want to cause paradoxes or anything." Barry said vaguely. He wasn't going to give up a ready-made excuse easily.

If anything, that caused the man to get more excited. "Really? Oh, that must mean something really big is going to happen." He practically squealed, which nearly made Barry's head split down the center. The man clearly noticed his pain and his smile was replaced with a worried frown. "I'm sorry, are you okay? Can I help?"

"Uh, yeah. Do you have any food? Time travelling makes you hungry."

The man hesitated for a brief moment, indecision warring on his face, and he pulled out a small round pill. "Here, take this."

Barry accepted the pill without complaint, even though he could practically hear Artemis and Oliver screaming in his ear about how bad it was to accept food from strangers. He was too tired to care.

He downed the pill and nearly yelped as he could _feel_ his glucose levels rising. This thing was like eating one of Alex or Cisco's special calorie bars! His headache began to recede and he managed to stand up a little straighter.

He thanked the man profusely, and the man tried to appear nonchalant despite the pleased flush on his face. "It's no problem, man. Like Rao says, kindness is the light of life. We have a duty to spread it."

Rao.

Well, that was something he recognized. Barry looked around and, without being in blinding pain or on the verge of blacking out, marveled at the sight of Mal Sota. It was an impressive expanse of metal and stone merging in elegant ways that no modern architect would ever commission, rising even higher than any skyscraper Barry had ever seen. And dozens of stories above him, people were flying.

They were Kryptonian.

Great, Barry had managed to find himself in a universe that apparently had a large population of people just as powerful as Kara!

Oh god, Kara. He had seen her plunge into the breach after him, but had lost in her the storm of interdimensional energy. If she had come out anywhere near him then she would be surrounded by a place that mirrored her dead world. Kara and Barry had talked about Krypton quite a bit over the past few months, and he could see the raw pain that she tried to keep from showing. Being in a place like Mal Sota couldn't be good for her.

He had to find her. He had to get them back to Earth 38.

"Hey, man, you okay? Are you sure I can't help somehow?" The man asked with concern. "Look, why don't I call one of the Guildmasters and-?"

"No!" Barry shouted. He just needed to get Kara and get back home as soon as possible. Then he saw the man's shocked expression and felt bad. "Sorry, I just…need to report back as soon as possible. Thank you for all your help though."

"No, I get it, don't worry! But if you ever need another person to go through time, just look up Jimmy Olsen."

Barry stared at the man, tried to reconcile what he knew about Earth 38's James Olsen with this short, very unmuscular man, and failed. "Uh, yeah. Will do, James."

"It's Jimmy."

Yeah, that was definitely weird.

…He was definitely going to have to bring this up to Winn when he got back.

Barry shook his head. No, he needed to focus. He nodded at Jimmy and took off running through the winding streets of Mal Sota, trying to keep his speed under 200 mph to keep his suit from bursting into flames. It already had major tears in it from his landing, but he'd prefer to avoid being naked. It would probably make trying to find his partner harder.

Despite that calorie pill that Jimmy had given him, his reserves were still low. Healing took a lot out of him, and he had burned quite a bit of energy running against the breach's pull. He needed to conserve his energy so that he could open a breach the minute he found Kara.

What would Artemis say if she were trying to track someone down without access to technology?...Probably to get high ground. The problem with that was Barry was pretty sure that the reason no one was descending upon him was that he was at street level, but if he tried to run up one of the buildings one of the Kryptonians was sure to spot him.

A sudden screaming invaded Barry's thoughts, and he immediately skidded to a halt as he looked around for the person who was in danger. It was only because of that that he could catch an image of a screaming woman before she slammed into him like a truck.

Barry quickly became intimately familiar with the wall of the building opposite him, and he felt his newly healed bones fracture in multiple places, as well as a few bonus broken bones and a bonus concussion. He crumbled to the ground and let out a groan that was half pain, half frustration.

From his prone position on the ground, Barry could make out the woman standing above him, wearing a tight blue jumpsuit and what could easily pass for a motorcycle helmet. She babbled something in a language that he couldn't understand, but was able to recognize as Kryptonian from Winn's attempts to teach it to him.

He attempted to wave her off, only to come to the realization that his humerus was probably broken. Scratch that; definitely broken. The woman stared at him, or at least, seemed to stare at him, he couldn't really tell given the helmet. She stooped to pick him up, and Barry let out a muffled scream as her fingers brushed over his broken ribs.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." The woman said firmly. Barry stared at her. Her words were lightly accented with the lilt of Kryptonese, but the voice was unmistakable.

"K-Kara?" He asked, his voice coming out barely a groan.

The woman's head rotated towards him, and she used one hand to press a finger to her helmet, which collapsed and retracted into a pair of goggles on her forehead, revealing a short cut bob of blonde hair and familiar blue eyes that looked at him curiously. "Yes, I'm Kara El. Have we met?"

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**Hey, everyone, Phantom Prince here again. Due to a work trip, I will be completely unable to write for about a week or so, and I know that the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so I didn't want to leave people with nothing to go on for two weeks. As such, this chapter is pretty short, but hopefully it'll help tide you over until I get back.**

**If you have any questions, please ask! I love feedback and the chance to improve on my writing. Also, I've put up a more official artwork for the site, but if anyone is interested in drawing it, I would love a drawing of Barry and Kara on the rooftop in their civilian clothes, that would be really cool.**

**And, as always, remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW!**


	11. Doppelgangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All around me are familiar faces...

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Kara couldn't help but notice that the desert that she was flying above wasn't exactly natural, and that was fairly concerning to her. The difference between this Earth and her home appeared to be that there were quite a few Kryptonians flying around, and somehow that resulted in a giant desert that showed signs of being created by enormous amounts of destructive energy. That couldn't mean anything good.

"Hey, where'd you go? You're supposed to be the one following me." The Blur spoke at a normal speaking voice, aware that Kara could hear him from miles away. She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she had fallen into her normal speeds and left the speedster behind. Despite being both a speedster and a version of her Barry, the Blur was slow as all hell, at least compared to her.

Since he couldn't hear her, she just flew back to the spot where the Blur was racing across the blackened dunes. Several miles behind, she could spot Dante's team and Squad 18 slowly following behind.

It grated on her to fly so slowly, especially since she could _see_ their destination in the distance; a small city made up of squat brick houses just past the edge of where the desert abruptly turned into habitable territory. It was only a few dozen miles away, why did he have to be so slow?

Kara sighed and plunged towards the rush of motion down on the earth. The Blur let out a rather unseemly yelp as he was scooped up into the sky and began to rapidly accelerate towards the city.

"What the hell, Kara?" The Blur shouted, and for a moment he sounded so much like her Barry that she got the urge to tease him like she normally did, but she put it out of her mind, along with what sounded like Alex's voice in her head teasing her about referring to him as 'her' Barry.

"Trying to speed this whole thing up. My friend was spit out of that breach far enough away that I can't see him with my supervision, and I need to find him." She yelled over the rushing wind. She wasn't keen on telling Bartholomew that the man she was looking for was an alternate version of him, that seemed like it would be awkward.

Bartholomew began to say something, only to start choking on what Kara assumed was some sort of fly. She couldn't help but smirk. Avoiding swallowing flies while moving was apparently something this Bartholomew hadn't mastered. Then again, he was probably used to moving slow enough that it wasn't a problem.

"We were getting there!" Bartholomew protested. "You don't even know where to-"

"-Aaaaand we're here." Kara announced, landing on the very edge of the city. Well, perhaps 'city' was a strong word, at least compared to places like National City or New York. Large town maybe. Artemis's voice echoed in her head, commanding her to x-ray the buildings, which she found, to her _absolute frustration,_ had enough lead in the walls that she couldn't see through them.

Still, she supposed that made sense. The only reason most buildings weren't regularly lined with lead back home was that it was like announcing that one didn't trust Superman or Supergirl, which was a big faux pas.

Bartholomew stumbled out of Kara's grip, frantically pulled off his helmet, and promptly vomited. Kara wrinkled her nose at the sour smell and tried to block it out but given the amount of food that speedsters had to eat, there was a lot to try and block out.

While the Blur tried to recover from his sudden fit of nausea, Kara saw people poking their heads out of their houses, eying her warily. She saw most of them making those odd hand gestures that Dante and Bartholomew had been using in front of her.

"What's with the sign language?" She asked curiously. She could understand if it was some sort of military code, but civilians using it too seemed odd, considering this place just seemed to be a regular town.

Bartholomew wheezed for a few more seconds and staggered to his feet, wiping his mouth. "People don't like the chance of being overheard by Kryptonians." He explained. "People tend to use it more than talking nowadays, especially when we live so close to one of the Sotas."

Sota. That was the Kryptonian word for 'city', which only increased her curiosity. "Wait if there's a Kryptonian city, er, Sota, nearby, then why did Zon In say that he was the owner of this place?"

"The House of In holds ownership of Sector 78, which encompasses most of the Blackened Desert. They won it in a fight with another house, though I suspect that it will change hands soon. It's a popular spot to fight for."

Kara frowned as she processed the information. Fighting for ownership of something seemed far out of line with the normally civilized Kryptonian customs. Differences in universes, she supposed. "So, how are you going to help me find my friend?" She asked finally. "Because no offense, this place doesn't look super…advanced."

"Well, we are going to meet with one of the greatest minds in the Human Alliance, a mentor of mine. He'll help you out." Bartholomew said confidently.

Well, it was either this or try and find one of the Sotas, and…she didn't want to deal with that. It would be far too easy to lose track of herself finding out what made this Earth so different, why Kryptonians were apparently widespread here, the ultimate 'in what could have been'. A world where Kryptonians still lived...

Bartholomew began walking slowly towards the inner city, sending hand gestures to the people poking their heads out of the houses. When they saw the speedster, the civilians relaxed, even as they shot her wary looks. They ducked back into their houses, and Bartholomew pulled her further into the primitive city.

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Barry was laying very comfortably on a bed that wasn't his own, wondering whether this fell under the category of an alien abduction. It was clear that Kara El was concerned for his wellbeing, and he could see in her expression the same smothered guilt that he often saw in his own Kara. Why was that? Come to think of it, most of the people on the ground with him had been regular humans, while all the Kryptonians had flown above. So why had Kara been running on the ground?

" _All health issues have been resolved. Glucose levels normal. Accelerated healing not required."_ The robot stated without inflection. It spoke to how disquieting Barry had found Kara's doppelganger that he had barely paid it any attention. It had a head not unlike that of that talking baby from Family Guy and long, spindly arms, but no legs.

Barry wanted one.

"Again, I'm so sorry about this whole thing. I just have a really hard time stopping…" Kara El apologized profusely, hovering over the edge of the bed. Her blue eyes were no less vibrant than the ones he had been staring into less than an hour ago, and yet Barry could see that something about her was different. If she hadn't resembled his Kara in everything but hair style, he never would've compared her to his partner, especially considering how she had endangered others.

"And again, I say, it's no problem." Barry replied easily, giving her a comforting smile. A Kryptonian running around without properly understanding how to brake was an enormous problem, but Barry wasn't in a position to critique her, especially considering that, with how horrified she was to have hit him, it likely didn't happen often.

He didn't see why he had to be healed with his shirt off though.

" _Sir, your genetic profile has several odd irregularities."_ The Kelex interrupted. _"Do you wish for me to transmit it to the Medical Division to seek proper help? Doing so is highly recommended."_

Barry blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected for the robot to scan his genes, given that he was brought in for emergency treatment. That was kind of an odd to include in what appeared to be a standard healing.

"No," Barry finally answered. "I think I'm aware of what they are." The irregularities were probably his metahuman DNA…hopefully. Maybe once he was back home he would have the DEO run a scan on him, just in case. It had been awhile since Caitlin had done her routine inspections to monitor the Speed Force inside him.

" _As you wish, sir."_ The Kelex agreed. Its function performed, it floated out of the room, leaving Kara El and Barry alone.

Barry scanned the room that he had been placed in. While he was sure that there were certain cultural differences between both his dimension and this one as well as Earth and Kryptonian cultures, he was mostly sure that this was some sort of guest room. While the room shared the exotic internal architecture, composed mostly of bright whites and soft grays, there was a distinct lack of personality that he recognized there.

The sheets shifted, and Barry realized that Kara El had seated herself on the edge of his bed, and was offering him an unmarked gray shirt, pointedly not looking at him, with a slight pink hue on her face. Barry quickly accepted and dressed himself in it, still not entirely sure why Kara El had even requested him to take off his original shirt when the Kelex had begun healing him.

"So, uh, what's your name?" Kara El blurted out.

"Huh? Oh, I'm Barry." The speedster offered a hand, and she shook it with a casual amount of strength that made Barry bite back a scream of pain.

"Nice to meet you, Bare Ri. Very…modern name. I'm Kara El."

Neither one of them spoke after that, Barry because he couldn't look at her and not be forcefully reminded of his…superhero partner/roommate/possible girlfriend, and she couldn't look at him because…well, that Barry didn't know. Her eyes would occasionally dart to his face, then to the walls, back to his face, then her mouth would open, then it would close, and the process would repeat itself.

"Thank you." Barry said, partially just to fill the silence.

"Hm?" Kara El responded as if being pulled out of a daze. She gave him an off put grin. "What for?"

Barry gestured to the house around them, the bed that he lay on. "For helping me out. You didn't need to, after all, I just stood there stupidly while you ran into me." He chuckled awkwardly. He knew that he was severely downplaying his own role in it. Had Oliver been there he would have shot Barry with a siege engine for not paying enough attention to his surroundings.

Kara El waved her hands around frantically to dissuade him in a manner that made a smile tug on Barry's mouth. "No, no, it's totally my fault. I shouldn't have even been running around in the first place."

Even as she said that to reassure him, Barry could hear that contained within was a question: what had _he_ been doing running around?

Barry mulled over his options. There was always lying, but how? He couldn't pretend to be a Kryptonian who just liked running; he had no way of demonstrating Kryptonian strength, flying or laser vision. But on the other hand, he had seen no indications that metahumans existed in this universe. There were definitely humans like Jimmy populating Mal Sota, but just because there were humans didn't mean there were metas. If he revealed that about himself and they didn't exist here, he might be forcibly restrained and studied. He wasn't sure he could outrun a whole planet's worth of Kryptonians.

On the other hand, he could reveal himself to be from another dimension entirely, like he had with his Kara. But… Even though he loved all of the time he had spent on Earth 38, he couldn't deny that one of the reasons he had stuck around on that critical first day was because he had gotten caught up in Kara's world, combined with not knowing how to breach back home.

Barry already knew he couldn't leave Kara someplace like this dimension. It would be too cruel to see this possibility, like if they had breached to a world where his mother still lived. That, and he wasn't sure what the time dilation between this Earth and Earth 38 was. Years might pass while they were gone.

None of those thoughts really gave him anything to answer Kara El's question with though, so instead he just shrugged and smiled in embarrassment at the blonde woman. "You know how it is." He said vaguely.

That actually wasn't something that he had learned from Artemis, Alex or Oliver, but rather something that he had picked up from some of the detective books he had perused. Answering vaguely would let Kara El fill in whatever she wanted, and the embarrassment would put her off digging too deeply.

Rather than anything he had expected, Kara's eyes immediately lit up and she gasped, her mouth curling into a delighted smile as she scooched across the bed closer to him. "So…. you're like me then?" She asked, entirely too close for comfort.

"Uh….what?" Barry asked eloquently. How was he like her?

She leaned close enough that Barry could feel her breath on his face, eyes wild with excitement. _"You can't fly either."_

Barry stared at her.

Kara El….couldn't fly?

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"I'm getting the feeling that this man doesn't want to be bothered." Kara noted, looking at the house. The home of Harrison Wells had the look of a fancy house that had fallen into disrepair because the owner despised people in general and the Home Owner's Association in particular.

Which was really a shame, because that made it one of the best houses that she had seen in the city.

"What makes you say that?" Bartholomew asked distractedly. He poked away at some device on his wrist that looked almost like a sleek version of a Pip-Boy that had information crossing its surface so quickly even Kara could barely make it out.

"Probably all the signs that say, 'Go Away', and what looks like…." She briefly checked again with her x-ray vision and counted again, "Thirty-five high yield mines in the front yard, a hidden spike pit underneath the right window, and what looks like a few hidden flamethrowers to cover most of the entire yard."

Bartholomew waved a dismissive hand. "Wells is all show. He wouldn't hurt a fly." To prove his point, he started walking towards the door with long, confident strides.

He stepped over the first mine, and it blew up.

Kara was already in the process grabbing Bartholomew when his foot came down on the mine, but her hands felt nothing but air. The second that it took for her to regain her bearings was almost too close to escape, but she darted back, avoiding the explosion entirely…which was really for the best. She didn't need to lose two sets of clothing today.

As the spray of uprooted earth and smoke settled, Kara quickly spotted Bartholomew. He was standing exactly where he had been when the mine detonated, but his entire form was hazy and indistinct in what Kara recognized as phasing.

The hazy man's head moved downwards, and Kara could somehow tell he was frowning. _"Huh."_ He buzzed. _"It was real."_ His body rapidly solidified, and Kara found her guess was right. "I will have to talk to Wells about that."

Kara shook her head in disbelief and slow tongues of anger began to stir in her stomach. "What if we hadn't been, well, us? That could've killed someone!"

"I imagine he would say something like 'I put up signs'." Bartholomew said dryly. "Besides, I doubt anyone would come here anyway. Most human law enforcement knows to warn people away from anyplace affiliated with Harrison Wells."

It would seem that she and this Harrison Wells would be having _words_. Violent words.

"So, what do we do now? Wait for him to open the door?" Kara stared at the mentioned entrance, which hadn't budged. Nothing in the curtained windows flickered. Even as she concentrated, no noise from within the house suggested someone up and moving around.

"Nah, he won't come out. He might not even know we're here."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "We set off an explosion on his doorstep." She pointed out.

Bartholomew shrugged helplessly. "We're going to need to get in ourselves. Although…." He cleared his throat and suddenly his voice became louder. "If we can't get in then we may have to bring the rest of the Alliance to help out!" Then, before she could do anything, he took another step, directly over yet another mine.

Nothing happened, and Bartholomew let out a snort, a smirk forming on his face. "You're so predictable, Wells." He said aloud. Not under his breath, but as if Wells was standing right next to them. He continued walking towards the door as Kara followed, prepared to fly away in case the mines suddenly decided to activate, or the inactive flamethrowers came to life in their stead.

They made it to the front door and Bartholomew knocked on the creaking wooden door in a precise, neat pattern. When nothing happened, he knocked again, this time harder.

"I could always kick down the door. I'm way ready for that." Kara suggested helpfully.

"Oh, feel free." Bartholomew stood aside with a devious grin on his face. Kara cracked her neck, kicked her leg back….

The door creaked inwards on rusty hinges, and even Kara's eyes couldn't penetrate the darkness beyond. "Yeah, that's not creepy at all." She said sarcastically. "Are you sure that no one else could help me?"

"Pretty sure." Bartholomew said. Then, without another word, he walked through the door. Kara muttered some unkind words under her breath and followed.

Things were so much simpler when she just had to punch somebody.

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Even though Barry knew one of his various doppelgangers had become a detective in an alternate timeline, Barry had never felt a pull towards that line of work. However, he was still far from dumb, and he felt the world slow down as he forced his brain to speed up. He just needed a moment to consider all the information he had just been handed.

For some reason, Kara El couldn't fly. That much was obvious, given that she had just told him that, but given how she was reacting to the idea that he couldn't either, that probably meant both that such a case was incredibly rare, and that metahumans likely didn't exist if the possibility didn't even occur to her.

Well, that really narrowed down what he needed to do. He let time speed back up to a 1:1 ratio and gave Kara El a sad smile. "Yeah. I can't fly. I just…don't like to talk about it." He lied.

"No, no, I totally get that!" Kara El quickly affirmed, leaning back from her uncomfortably close position. "I just can't believe that we haven't run into one another before now!"

"Nice pun." Barry complimented.

Kara El lit up. "You got that! Sol, all the people in the Science Guild I know are too stuffy to get that."

Wow, so people in the Science Guild didn't tell or understand puns? Apparently Kryptonian scientists were a lot more like Harry and Caitlin than Cisco.

"Excuse me, Lady Kara?" A distinctly non-metallic voice asked. Barry looked over at the doorway and saw a woman dressed in dark, loose fitting clothing that had a small House of El symbol on it that was contained in a small circle.

…Okay, what the hell? What the actual, everloving hell? Barry could understand divergences in history, but in no way could he understand why _Alex Danvers_ would be _Kryptonian_ in this universe. It made no sense whatsoever.

Kara El's face transformed from excited and happy to embarrassed and angry in a heartbeat. "What is so important?" She snapped, her tone ugly yet commanding.

Barry stared at the Kryptonian girl.

Alex's doppelganger's face was completely flat. "The Lady Alura sent a message saying that she would be home late tonight and wishes for you to meet with House Zar in her stead. Do you accept?"

Kara El grimaced. "Of course she would put this on me…" She muttered to herself. She sat in contemplation for a moment, and her eyes flickered to look at Barry for a brief moment. Her spine straightened. "Send a message to House Zar and say that, unfortunately, we will have to postpone our meeting."

"Do you wish for me to use those exact words, or should I embellish a bit?" A hint of sarcasm crept into Not-Alex's voice, and for a moment she seemed almost like the woman Barry knew.

"Yes." Kara bit out, glaring at the girl. "Do so at once."

Despite the clear dismissal, Not-Alex didn't move. "Need I remind you that Lady Alura is working to try and create a favorable impression of you to the House Zar?"

A foul expression that Barry had never seen on his Kara's face formed on her doppelganger. "You overstep yourself." She sneered at the girl that would've been her sister in another universe. "Leave, and transmit the message."

Not-Alex didn't say anything more. She simply bowed and left the room.

Barry stared at the doorway and glanced at Kara El. That was…something. Apparently Not-Alex wasn't a Kryptonian. Maybe… "Your servant seemed rather concerned for your welfare." Barry guessed.

Kara El shrugged, once again becoming relaxed and pleasant. "You know how humans are. They tend to get attached very quickly." She joked.

Barry made a noncommittal sound, hoping that it would slide by Kara El's attention, but the girl was sharper than she appeared. She raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you must be one of those Houses that don't have human servants." She decided, once again giving Barry a ready-made excuse.

He nodded and smiled. "Robots are cooler."

A smile flickered across Kara El's face, and Barry could see some kind of plan turning behind her eyes. "Well, you'd certainly get along well with father…" She muttered to herself, as if Barry wasn't just a foot away and (in her mind) possessing super-hearing.

"What was that?" Barry asked. He had heard her clear as day, of course, but it was polite to give people a chance to retract their words.

"Ah, nothing. My father doesn't see why we need human servants either." Kara El admitted. "Though mother is one of those who think that interacting with humans is more pleasant than Kelex because they have 'more autonomy'." Kara El used her fingers and rolled her eyes to emphasize what she thought of her mother's opinion.

Great. It appeared that Kara's issues with race persisted even across universes. He would have to tease her on that one once he found her. _If_ he found her.

Barry eyed Kara El, mentally trying to take a step back. She was still very close to him, and while Barry had managed to outrun Kara's fastest flying speed several weeks ago, he had no idea whether or not she would chase him, where he could search to find his Kara, or any other useful information. What he needed was access to something like the internet, which he couldn't even assume existed in a form he was familiar with due to this Kryptonian dominated society. He needed to fish for more information until he could find a way to locate his partner.

But how to get Kara El to relax around him so he could get more information...?

"Hey, I'm feeling pretty hungry. Can your Kelex whip us up some food?" Barry asked suddenly. "Healing takes a lot out of a guy."

Kara El looked surprised for all of a second, then a massive grin worked its way onto her face. "Why, Bare, I thought you'd never ask."

It appeared that something else was consistent across universes: Kara's appetite.

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"This place is just…it doesn't make any sense!" Kara got out, shutting off her x-ray vision. A headache pounded at her temples from her brief attempt at trying to use the power on this space that seemed to defy and all sense of physics.

The moment they had stepped through the door, Kara and Bartholomew were in a different place. That much was evident by the fact that the room they had stepped into was far too big to have fit inside the dilapidated house outside. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was smooth, seamless metal with an odd shine that Kara couldn't quite place. Of course, she could barely see the floor or walls due to multiple tables and shelves along them, on which sprawled hundreds if not thousands of mechanical devices, ranging from tiny and delicate to massive and robust.

There was no sign of any other life-form inside the room, and the whole space had an empty, sterile smell to it. So, Kara had tried to use her x-ray vision to scan for this Harrison Wells, only to near instantly regret it.

There were multiple floors to whatever compound that they were in, and Kara couldn't see outside of it. For some reason her vision could penetrate through the walls to see deeper into the compound, but not what was outside of it. The various rooms and the corridors connected to them were designed by some sort of mad genius. Spaces that should've been right next to each other were instead on opposite sides, and some rooms overlapped in the same space yet remained separate. The whole place could've been designed by M.C Esher for all the sense it made.

"Yeah, he probably designed it that way." Bartholomew agreed calmly. "Just to screw with people."

"Or perhaps," a sudden voice suggested, "as a defense against those with her species' particularly overpowered surveillance abilities."

From among the tables of junk, a man stood, crawling out from under some sort of contraption that looked like a cross between a refrigerator and a mechanical monkey. Piercing eyes peered out from a curtain of dark, wild hair. A thick beard hung down nearly to his chest, and his lab-coat was stained with both grease and blood.

Despite all that, Kara couldn't sense him. Oh, she could see him alright, and hear his voice, but when she flickered to heat vision he disappeared completely, and for all his apparent hygiene neglect, she couldn't smell him at all.

"You're a hologram." She decided as the man shuffled his way over to them.

The man halted in front of her. He wasn't particularly tall, and yet Kara felt oddly small next to him, as if she were under a microscope. Then, one of his dirty, unwashed fingers lanced out and flicked her on the nose.

Kara yelped and quickly covered the assaulted area, glaring at the man who had to be Harrison Wells. It hadn't exactly hurt, but it wasn't pleasant either. But if he was really here, why was he absent from her super-senses?

"To trick Kryptonians." Harrison said, a 'duh' going unsaid but not unnoticed. Kara also noted that he hadn't responded to anything that she had verbalized, yet he still knew. That must mean…

"I'm not reading your mind." The scientist said again, his voice monotone.

Kara crossed her arms. "I wasn't thinking that you had been reading my mind. I figured you were probably smart enough to anticipate what I was thinking and just wanted to unnerve me."

If Harrison was surprised or impressed, none of it showed on his face…what little of it was visible, that was. "Looks like you're smarter than the Blur." From the way he said it, it was clear that wasn't much in his eyes.

"And yet, considering that you know that I'm Kryptonian and yet allowed me into this space, you must trust his judgement a good deal." Kara defended her partner's doppelganger.

"Hmmmmm…." Harrison turned to eye Bartholomew, who had been watching their exchange with amusement. "I suppose that I must now abandon this base now that the Alliance knows where I am?" He asked rhetorically.

The Blur's smile dropped, and he shook his head. "No, they don't know where you are. I found this place myself."

Alarm bells started going off in Kara's head. "Hold on a minute, you specifically said that Harrison Wells is one of the great minds of the Human Alliance. Why would he need to hide from them?" Kara's muscles tensed in case she needed to fight a way out of here. She had been paying close attention to Bartholomew's heartrate to determine whether he had been sincere about helping her, but that method had been proven fallible before.

"All humans are part of the Human Alliance." Bartholomew said firmly.

Harrison snorted. "Not all of us, Blur. I'm in hiding for a reason."

Now it was Bartholomew's turn to snort in disbelief. "If you really wanted to stay hidden, you should've done a better job hiding. We both know you could've made the entrance point here at the bottom of an active volcano, instead you hide it in a house in a human settlement deeded to Warrison Hells. You wanted to be found."

"Only in case of emergency." Harrison said, still with no inflection in his voice. "I didn't want you to have to go on some epic quest to find me if there was a bomb that was going to blow up the multiverse or some such."

"And what makes you think that this isn't an emergency?" Kara asked. She was actually genuinely curious. With how intelligent this man seemed to be it wouldn't have surprised her if he actually knew why they were here.

"Because I know what you're concerned about, and I already have the solution." Harrison fished in his coat pockets for entirely too long before holding out a small vial with a bubbling yellow liquid in it. He handed it to Kara, and she noticed that despite it's bubbling, the vial was ice cold.

"And, this is supposed to help how?" Kara asked dubiously. Eliza had always warned her about drinking things given to her by strange men. Well, Eliza had told Alex, and Kara had happened to overhear. Same thing.

Harrison gave her a long-suffering look. "It will help you conceive a child."

The vial slipped through Kara's fingers and clattered onto the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The dining room in Kara El's loft was a significant step up from the guest room. Decorative spires with ornate carvings in their crystalline surface gutted up towards the ceiling, and the seats were soft and comfortable despite appearing like solid granite. The afternoon light streamed in through a large window that showed a beautiful view of Mal Sota. Apparently, Houses were higher based on their prestige rather than being bought, and the House of El had a dwelling higher than most others.

It was this height that allowed Barry to see that he was completely screwed, because Mal Sota was floating almost a mile up in the air. Barry had developed his tornado arms trick as a way to break his fall from great heights, but he wasn't sure he could keep it up in time to get safely to the ground, especially since jumping off the edge would likely draw unwelcome attention.

Across from a small table, Kara El took a sip of a dark liquid that was very sharp smelling even to Barry's unenhanced senses. He wondered how a Kryptonian could stand it.

At this point, Barry could barely pay attention to the conversation he was having with his partner's doppelganger. Maybe he could try phasing through the bottom of the city, and that would bring less attention? Gah, but he could barely phase for a full minute, and he wasn't sure how far the bottom of the Sota extended.

Barry reflexively gave a pithy joke in response to something that Kara El said, and she giggled for much longer than the joke deserved.

There was a lull in the conversation as Kelex brought yet another meal to the table. The dish looked like a blue pomegranate with tentacles spilling out from a crevice within them. Oddly enough, it tasted like duck.

Soft footsteps approached the table, and Not-Alex appeared again. "The House of Zar is not pleased with the delay." She said blandly.

Kara El snorted, her mood souring. "I figured as much. Tell them to go fuck themselves."

Not-Alex stared at Kara El without moving. "In as many words?"

Kara El rolled her eyes in a manner that caught Barry's attention. His Kara occasionally did the same thing, but there was no fondness in this Kara's gesture. "Of course not. Tell them…. tell them that my mother will help them arrange another dinner."

Not-Alex bowed. "As you say, Lady Kara." And she disappeared into the depths of the El's dwelling.

"What's this about the House of Zar?" Barry asked off-handedly, still staring out the window and trying to calculate the best ways to fall off of the edge off the city.

Kara El was silent for too long, bringing Barry's attention back to the table. She was swirling her drink in her glass, and with her free hand she was tracing patterns on the table.

"Kara?" Barry asked, slightly concerned. No, bad Barry, he chastised himself. Don't get too involved.

Kara El let out a breath. "My parents are pretty set on me marrying into the House of Zar." She admitted. "If everything had gone as planned, I would've gotten engaged tonight."

Barry's jaw unhinged. "What? Wait, you didn't need to blow off something so important if your boyfriend was going to propose."

Kara El laughed, and there was a faint note of derision in the sound. "You might not have any human servants, but you've really taken to human concepts, Bare. At least you're consistent, given that you're the first Kryptonian I've met that prefers speaking English to proper Kryptonese." He got the faint sense that he was being mocked. "I don't know how things happen in your House, but I've only met my 'fiancé' a few times. I just don't…" She searched for the words, a frown on her face.

"Love him?" Barry prompted, once again noting Kara El's disdain for humans, which apparently extended to human concepts. At Kara El's nod, Barry continued. "Well, isn't wanting romantic feelings for the person you marry a human concept?"

The Kryptonian downed the rest of her drink in a solid three gulps. "I suppose humans have a few good ideas…" Kara El muttered. Kelex floated up behind her and refilled her glass from a silver pitcher. "I suppose I also wouldn't mind being looked at as a spinster at my age."

Barry blinked in surprise, and something occurred to him. Whatever event had brought the Kryptonians to Earth, it likely meant that Kara El hadn't been stuck in the Phantom Zone for decades. So how old was she? He shook off the question. It wasn't important. But even so…

He flicked his hand dismissively. "You don't always have to play by your family's rules. You should marry someone you love."

A faint smile touched Kara El's lips. "You're sweet." She murmured, turning her eyes to the sky outside. Barry could see dozens of Kryptonians flying around below. "But given my age and my…disability, I don't exactly have my pick of the suitors, even as a daughter of the House of El."

Ah yes, her inability to fly. Barry wondered how that worked. Was it a mental block or had something happened in this Kara's past that physically prevented her from doing it? Whatever it was, apparently it wasn't so fantastical that she doubted he had this disability as well.

"I get it." Barry agreed blandly, wondering what topic to move onto next. The more he had to lie, the likelier the chance he would get discovered.

Kara El let out a giggle and quickly covered up her mouth, looking over at him guiltily. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. I've just never met someone like me, especially since yours extends to your hyper durability."

Barry shrugged. "I've learned to live with it." He lied, taking another bite of the weird pomegranate thing. It was really quite good.

There was silence for a while, and Barry stared out of the window, returning to his theorizing. Then something touched his hand and his eyes were jerked back to the table to find Kara El's fingers entwined with his from across the small table. She was also staring out the window and seemed unconcerned.

"Hey, Bare Ri…" Kara El's voice was low, and it wavered, betraying her calm façade. "I was just wondering…."

Barry couldn't move his fingers. Kara El might not be able to fly, but her strength seemed unaffected. "Yeah?" he asked, trying to seem unruffled.

"How would you feel about getting married?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante watched from a distance as Squad 18 finished assembling their machine, him and his team with their eyes on the sky in case Kara Zor-El decided to fly back. They had thankfully made very little distance from the contact point before the Kara Zor-El had disappeared and they could double back to complete the mission.

Thankfully, Squad 18 hadn't begun assembling the transmitter before Kara Zor-El had unexpectedly dropped into the middle of their mission and taken them out. Luckily, the Blur had gotten them out of that little situation by taking the Kryptonian away.

The machine was rather undersized and delicate. It was the best that the Human Alliance could come up with without the help of the reclusive Harrison Wells, who still refused to work with them. Of course, it was still far more advanced than anything Dante could understand.

From the corner of his eye, Dante saw one of the members of his team fidget. He couldn't see her face due to the helmet but could tell she was anxious. Dante moved to her side.

 _Are you alright?_ Dante signed.

The helmeted head didn't move from the sky, but she signed back _I just…_ There was a brief fumble of her fingers. _I just think it's a bit too convenient that this Kara Zor-El just happened to appear when Squad 18 got here. Do you think that this is some sort of trap?_

Dante couldn't deny that he'd had similar thoughts, but he was the leader of this squad, however ill-suited to the role he was. _If the Kryptonians knew what we're up to they likely wouldn't need any kind of deception. They could just attack us._

His underling paused. _I don't suppose that they would have anything to fear of attacking us outright,_ she signed hesitantly.

Dante patted her on the shoulder comfortingly without signing anything back to her and returned to staring at the sky. A few feet away, the machine hummed to life.

He and his team kept vigilant as Squad 18 went about their mission, fiddling with the transmitter. After just a few minutes, the humming stopped, and he could hear the Squad begin to disassemble the device.

Dante turned to the leader of Squad 18, who gave him a swift nod. Dante returned the gesture and began to relay orders to his own underlings.

The mission was accomplished. The orders were received, and the package with them.

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**Hahaha**

**Hahaha**

**HAHAHA**

**Welcome back to Flip a Coin, beloved readers! It seems that nothing can be simple, not even interdimensional travel. With this new Earth (and new chapters) brings new questions. Why won't Harrison Wells work with the Human Alliance? Why can't Kara El fly? What's the plan of the Human Alliance? Why on earth does Harrison Wells think that Kara and Bartholomew want to have a child?**

**All these and more coming up in the next few chapters. Speaking of which, I've hit a bit of writers block when it comes to this arc (in case you couldn't tell), so I have a simple question for all y'all.**

**Would you prefer shorter but more frequent updates? Or lengthier but longer-taking chapter?**

**That's all for now, folks. This is the Phantom Prince checking out, and don't forget to FOLLOW, FAVORITE and REVIEW.**


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